These Old Folks
by EvilSpanker
Summary: A mission against Akatsuki spins out of control. Naruto finds himself in a place he doesn't know; a time before the hidden villages. Can Naruto find a place for himself in this new time period? Or will he just become another causality of war? TimeTravel!
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hello, welcome to my fic. This chapter has not been through the beta yet. Once I get it back from the beta I will switch this out for the better version. Enjoy.

The sun beat washed over the large village of Konohagakure no Sato. It was a modest day, unlike the usual scorching heat that the name Hi no Kuni implied. The pleasant whether coaxed the people from their homes to crowd the busy market places, where wandering street vendors had their goods for display and hawkers cried their wares. Money passed from hand to hand, some prices being haggled over before the purchase completed. One man, who was known for being a little aggressive while haggling a merchant, was screaming at the top of his lungs and pounding his fist on the unfazed looking vendor's cart.

Away from all the hustle and bustle of the market areas sat one man, weary to go out into the crowded streets. There are times when Uzumaki Naruto curses the day he let Sandaime convince him to join the Academy. As a kid he always imagined being a ninja would be filled with adventures, wild missions to save a damsel or just having fun with other shinobi. Oh, if he knew back then what he knew now he would have done things differently. Maybe taken his studies seriously, trained harder…save people. Yes, Naruto had big dreams as a student, outlandish dreams, but still dreams.

Unfortunately, the real world doesn't give a damn about anyone's dreams. What the Academy told you but really couldn't teach you have to learn firsthand. The Academy couldn't teach Naruto how to cope with watching a friend die or how to take a life without succumbing to the emotional backlash. Most shinobi are made in the fires of combat, hardened to withstand the distresses of the profession. Naruto learned these lessons and learned them well, and it changed him in ways no one thought possible.

A clang interrupted Naruto's inner drama. His head snapped up to find the smiling face of Ichiraku Teuchi placing another large bowl in front of him.

"How about some food for your thoughts, eh Naruto," the old man inquired. The past couple years haven't been kind to the kind old man. His skin hung loose and wrinkled on his face, but the old man still smiled kindly and could cook a mean Ramen.

"Just thinking about life," Naruto shrugged. He hadn't changed much since he came back from his training sabbatical with Jiraiya. At eighteen years old he stood at about five feet ten inches tall, his hair is still an unruly mop of golden blond and his face had dropped all baby fat leaving the young Chuunin looking even more like his father.

"Oh, that's good. As an old man I have seen a lot of what life has to offer. Who knows, maybe I can give you some insightful advice," Ichiraku finished with a laugh.

Naruto shook his head tiredly. He dipped his chopsticks into the Ramen broth bringing out a bunch of noodles. "No offense, but there isn't much advice you could give me to ease the burdens of my job." The chopsticks darted upward feeding his mouth. _Ahh, sweet Miso Ramen._

"Try me! Let's see if I'm as smart as I think I am."

Naruto shrugged in response. Very well, might as well humor him, just to get off the topic. He'd never been a fan of small talk, especially about any difficulties he has been facing. "Have you ever felt as if everything you've done is all for nothing? That no matter how hard you try you can never make things happen the way you want them to happen? If certain choices you made were a mistake?" Naruto finished with an aggravated huff. The last few years have certainly taken the blinders off the powerful blond, and it was showing.

Teuchi would have given any other ninja a look of pity, but he knew Naruto wouldn't appreciate it. Instead he gave the boy a straight answer, it's the least he could do for all the money he spent here over the years. "Sure, there are days that I wish never happened. Some days I wonder what life would be like if I chose a different profession. If I chose to become a ninja like my father wanted for me to be. We all have regrets, but at the end of the day you just have to accept your choices and keep moving forward."

"Easier said than done," Naruto mumbled. He fiddled with is chopsticks finally setting on just swirling them in the broth. Naruto adopted a thoughtful look as he processed everything Teuchi said. He had to admit, the old man did give good advice for a ramen chef.

"Hey gramps, what would you do if you could redo your life with all the knowledge you have now?"

Teuchi looked bemused by the question. It wasn't something that was asked often, sure people think about it, but they usually don't talk about it. "Well," the old man scratched his chin thoughtfully before adopting a small grin, "I guess I would change things, try to make things better."

"If only if only," Naruto sighed wistfully. He drained the broth from his bowl and fished some Ryo out of his pocket laying it down on the counter. "See you later, old man."

Naruto stepped out into the warm Konoha sun. A nice breeze kept the weather bearable. It's a nice day for relaxation. Naruto trekked through the village, occasionally stopping to look at a few trinkets. He was so used to it now, the looks of approval that followed him. Sometime after returning with Jiraiya the people of the village stopped looking at him as Uzumaki Naruto the prankster Kyuubi container and started looking at him as just a normal shinobi passing through the streets. At first he didn't know what to do with all the approving looks, it scared him, but he just took it in stride and smiled or waved at the random civilian who did the same.

"Hey boss," a voice shouted from down the street. Naruto stopped mid step and turned to the source of the scream. Sarutobi Konohamaru came jogging down the street waving his hand. The thirteen year old Sarutobi looked to be starting his growth spurt. From the looks of things he wasn't going to be a small fry like his grandfather was, instead he looked like he's going to be built like his uncle, Asuma. The most noticeable thing about the young Sarutobi, especially to Naruto, was the green Chuunin vest. Naruto never said it aloud, but the fact that Konohamaru became a Chuunin before himself really irked him. Not only did he do it before Naruto, but he did it at a younger age and on his first try, something the young Sarutobi takes pleasure in poking fun at.

"What's up squirt?"

Konohamaru squawked at the shot at his current height. "Oi, watch it boss, in a few years I'll be taller than you. When that happens I'm definitely going to beat you in a fight." Naruto smirked at the proclamation, recalling the talk he had with Konohamaru the day he met him about defeating him if he wanted to become Hokage.

"I'm not in the mood for a spar right now, Konohamaru," Naruto said dismissively. If there was one thing that kept Naruto upbeat about Konohamaru's quicker rise through the ranks it was that the younger Chuunin hasn't beaten him once in a spar.

"I'm not here for that. Hokage-sama wishes to see you. You have a mission," Konohamaru informed him. With the message delivered he leapt up onto a roof and headed off.

Naruto followed Konohamaru's idea and took to the roofs of the village, heading toward the Hokage tower.

X0x0x0x0X

The waiting room outside the Hokage's office was…ordinary to say the least. It reminded Naruto of the waiting room of a doctor's office. A room filled with chairs and the occasional magazine resting on a table. No receptionist, there was no need for a receptionist. Only appointments to see the Hokage were summons and emergencies, and you come into the office when you are called for by the assistant.

So, it wasn't without surprise when the door to the office opened and Shizune poked her head out. "You can come in now, Naruto." Naruto hasn't seen much of Shizune lately. Two years sure have driven the medic-nin haggard. Bags rested snuggly under her eyes as if she hasn't had a decent night's sleep in a while and her overall appearance just screamed that something happened that caused her to become this way. Of course, Naruto knew the reason. In fact, the entire village knew the reason for Shizune's depression, and he couldn't blame her. He too was depressed for months after it happened, but unlike him, Shizune didn't pull out of her mood.

Naruto stepped into the office and stood before the Hokage at attention. The office remained the same as usual. Circular in shape, basic wooden desk, half a dozen windows around the office, pictures of the previous leaders and various other things.

"Ah, Naruto, on time as always for a meeting. That's good, being late is a bad habit a shinobi shouldn't have," Hatake Kakashi said with a serious look in his eye. The Rokudaime Hokage didn't look as if he fit the bill to be a Kage. His feet were propped up on his desk, his porn rested in one hand and he still had that ever lazy look on the visible part of his face.

"You called for me, sensei?" Naruto stood at attention in front of his old teacher.

"Don't look so glum," Kakashi said, "I know that things haven't been going well for us against Akatsuki or capturing Sasuke, but you should have faith that it will all come out okay at the end."

"I don't believe in fate," Naruto scoffed. Which was true, ever since Naruto laid a smack down on Neji when they were younger he didn't believe in faith. "Everything we've done the past couple years has been pointless. We tore apart the ranks of Akatsuki killing Hidan, Kakuzu and Sasori. Sasuke killed Deidara and Itachi, but despite all these losses Sasuke and his _team mates_," he spat the word as if it were acid, "join the group that wants to capture me and replenishes their ranks. On top of all that; we've lost Jiraiya, Tsunade and countless other Konoha shinobi."

Kakashi looked at his student. The once loud and obnoxious child was no more. In its place stood a man, a shinobi who knows what the world has to offer and found it lacking. Ever since coming back from training with Jiraiya nothing seemed to be going their way. Every time they got a leg up on the enemy they recovered and became stronger than they were before. Naruto, for all of his enthusiasm and optimism finally started to feel the weight of his enemies bearing down on him.

It started with the death of Jiraiya at the hands of the Akatsuki leader, Pain. Naruto was hurt badly by his death. Never before had anyone seen Naruto is such a depressive mood. Not even when Sasuke defected was Naruto in such a funk, but in typical Naruto fashion he rebounded back.

Next, it was the discovery that Sasuke had joined the group that wanted Naruto and essentially his death. This one was especially difficult for Naruto. This was the point that Naruto finally came to grips that Sasuke was unredeemable. That if he was going to defeat his former friend he would have to go after Sasuke with the intent to kill because his _friend_ would most certainly be trying to capture him, which would lead to his death.

After that, it was Pain once again, and his partner Konan, who caused Naruto even more suffering. The man (or should I say six men?) and Konan came to Konoha to capture Naruto. With the combined efforts of Tsunade, Kakashi, Naruto, Sai, Sakura, Tenzo, Gai and other various shinobi they were able to destroy all six of Pain's bodies and seriously wound Konan to force her retreat, but the victory was short lived when the message Jiraiya left became clear, the actual Pain was not among the six sent for Naruto. So, despite killing six Kage level shinobi, Pain simply got six new bodies and Konoha was left with one dead Hokage, and five other deaths including Tenzo.

The death of Tsunade hit the village **hard. **The wounds of Sandaime's death were finally closed, and now the village found themselves leaderless again. The empty chair for Kage caused a power struggle with in the village. Danzo, an old war hawk of the council, wanted the seat. While the majority of the council wanted someone young and with a decent longevity. So, with the help of Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, long time opponents of Danzo and Sandaime's old advisor's, from within the council they got Kakashi elected as the Rokudaime Hokage.

His time as Hokage so far has been surprisingly decent. The ranks swelled, new treaties being signed, good foreign relations, harsher academy training to make better quality shinobi and many other things he implemented were working out. Despite his apparent lack of dedication to the job he has done better than most expected.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably as Kakashi regarded him, not saying anything. What seemed like an eternity ended as Kakashi spoke, "I have a mission for you Naruto. It's an S ranked mission having to do with Akatsuki."

The words caused Naruto to stiffen slightly. It had been almost a year since he had any mission having to do with Akatsuki, the last one ending with the death of Chouji. Before that Naruto had never truly seen a friend killed in combat. The closest to that was Gaara and Tsunade, but both Kage had already been dead when he found out and in the end Gaara was revived with a life transfer jutsu.

"What are the details of the mission?"

Kakashi removed his feet from the desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Naruto. "That's the mission scroll. According to various sources, mysterious people wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them have been seen wandering around the Sun Forest, especially near the Crystal Waterfall within the forest. Your mission is to investigate what Akatsuki is doing. You are to only engage them in combat if you have no other options. Understood?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Wait, you want to do this alone? A solo mission most likely against multiple S ranked shinobi?"

"Of course not," Kakashi said jovially, "I've already assembled a team. They are just waiting for their leader to show up down by the South Gate."

"Oh? Who's the Jounin leading the team?"

Naruto took a small step back as something flew toward him. He snatched the object out of the air and looked down at it. It's a red patch that Jounin wear on their green flak jackets they get as a Chuunin. Some wear it, some don't. It's just a way for the brass to keep track of who's a Jounin and who's not.

"Jounin? But I didn't even take the exam for promotion."

"Doesn't matter," Kakashi shrugged, "it's my decision. If anyone gives me any lip about it I will put them in their place."

"Are you sure? I am sure that there more qualified people who can lead this mission. Maybe someone with experience as a Jounin should be the leader."

Kakashi sighed tiredly, clearly he was hoping Naruto would just take the promotion and be on his way. "Naruto, you have been ready for Jounin ever since you came back from your training with Fukasaku-sama at Mt. Myouboku. I think it's time you got promoted to the rank in which you deserve."

Naruto inspected the red patch with the Konoha symbol resting in the center. Shrugging he unzipped his jacket and fused it to the back of it with some chakra officially making him a Jounin. "Is that all?"

"That's all. You're dismissed."

Naruto saluted half heartedly to his old teacher. He ignored the door and jumped out of the window onto a neighboring roof top. First he had to stop by his apartment and gather some supplies and then he would go to the South Gate to meet up with his team.

X0x0x0x0x0x0x

The blond haired ninja landed about thirty yards from the gate. After gathering some kunai, shuriken, exploding notes and various other tools from his apartment he made his way for the gate.

Standing at the gate was his team. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed stood Sarutobi Konohamaru dressed in the standard black trunks and undershirt with his Chuunin vest. Pacing back and forth was the pink haired Haruno Sakura. The pink bombshell finally filled out into a beautiful women with very nice curves and a decent bra size. Sitting upon the head of a gigantic dog was Inuzuka Kiba. The last member sat cross legged on the ground drawing in his art book, the ever apathetic, Sai.

Kiba noticed his approach and waved his hand in the air at the blond, "Yo, Naruto. You been dragged into this mission too?"

"You betcha, dog breath," Naruto announced jokingly. Everyone gave a small chuckle as Kiba threatened to have Akamaru take a bite out of Naruto's ass for calling him dog breath.

Sakura smiled at him as he came closer. "Hey, Naruto. We are just waiting for whoever is supposed to lead the team?"

"Your wait is over," Naruto smiled, "I've been promoted."

Everyone perked up at this little bit of information. Konohamaru, obviously, was the first one to exclaim his surprise. "What is Kakashi thinking," he screamed in mock rage, "with you leading us we will get lost walking down a straight path."

"Oi, smart ass. Do you _want_ me to hurt you?" You could hear the smile in Naruto's voice even if his face said otherwise.

Sakura reached over and gave Naruto a congratulatory hug which caused the blond to blush. "I think you will be a great Jounin, Naruto."

Sai reached over and patted Naruto on the back. This gesture was something he read about in a book. A sign of good will toward someone when you want them to feel good or know you are happy for them, "Yeah, I guess this means you finally got something to compensate for your small penis."

Kiba's laughter filled the area at Sai's remark about Naruto's manhood. If Naruto were his old self he would have tried to strangle Sai, but now that he knew the apathetic ninja he knew that he was only joking around about it.

"Don't be jealous of me just because you lack any form of manhood," Naruto shot back.

This one caused Sakura to giggle and Konohamaru to look back and forth between Naruto and Sai.

"If I didn't know any better I would think you two have a little something _extra_ going on on the side," Konohamaru said suggestively to Naruto and Sai.

Naruto opened his mouth to reply when Sakura put a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we should get on with the mission details."

"Right," Naruto said reaching into his pants pocket pulling out a folded map. He opened it up and put it on the ground and they all kneeled around it in a circle. "Our objective is located here at Sun Forest. It is located thirty five miles south of Konoha. Eye witness accounts say that they have been seeing people with black cloaks with red clouds hovering around Crystal Waterfall within the forest for the past couple days."

"Akatsuki…damn, they've been quiet for so long I was hoping they just went away," Kiba muttered to himself but it was heard by everyone.

"That would be too easy. Live never throws you a bone, especially to a ninja," Konohamaru said philosophically.

Naruto snapped his fingers regaining their attention, "Here's how we are going to do this. Kiba will be at point with Akamaru as he is the resident tracking specialist. Sakura will be with Kiba to provide him support in the event he needs it occurs. I will be behind acting as back up to Sakura and Kiba. And Konohamaru will be covering our flank. Our mission is to investigate Akatsuki's mission. We are not to engage unless there is no other choice. Clear?"

They all nodded quietly and set out of the South Gate in the formation Naruto laid out for them unsure of their fate at the end of the day.

X0x0x0x0x0x

Akamaru kept his nose up in the air tracking a scent as the team transversed through the trees of the Sun Forest. It was a miracle that the tree trunks could support the weight of the giant dog. The group had been traveling for a little over two hours, stopping only once for a rest. Thirty five miles may be a long travel for a normal person, but to a ninja it was like walking to the grocery store around the corner.

The sun was going down and the sky would have the orange glow to it soon. The tree leaves in the forest were a mixture of reds and yellows, hence why it was called the Sun Forest. Even during the hottest days of summer or the coldest days of winter the leaves of this forest stayed their color. It was eerie to most people, but Naruto found it mystical. It was certainly a different picture than the green Konoha forests surrounding the village.

"Hey Kiba," Naruto called to his tracker, "how much farther?"

Said tracker made a low growling sound which Akamaru growled back to. "Akamaru says we should be coming up on the waterfall shortly," Kiba shouted back to him. True to his word and opening appeared leading into a large open area with a waterfall and a small pool of water it fell into. The waterfall rose about fifty feet into the air, not the biggest water fall, but it was certainly eye catching. Small crystal like stones glinted front the mouth of the waterfall and throughout the falling water it looked like the stones were flowing with it. If it wasn't for the fact that these crystal stones were worthless this waterfall would have people killing each other over it.

"Alright, everyone spread out. Check for traps, look for; trip wires, genjutsu, exploding notes, seal markers and any other stuff you can think of. You know the drill. Once you have completed your search pulse your chakra to show an all clear signal."

The team took their jobs in stride. Kiba and Akamaru circled around the tree line to the right searching for traps while Sakura and Konohamaru circled the left side of the tree line. They would not enter the clearing until they were sure no traps were present. Naruto stayed in his spot up in a large tree surveying the area. The clearing looked perfectly normal to him, he didn't see any evidence of foul play, but he knew that such things could be covered up with a simple genjutsu.

He clasped his hands into a seal and gathered a considerate amount of chakra in them before intoning, **"Kai."** The chakra he gathered in the hand seal burst forth from his hands over the clearing searching for any kind of chakra distortions both in the area and within his own chakra. He felt his body grow warm for a millisecond signaling to him that there was a genjutsu over the area affecting his perception of what he was looking at. The illusion over the area dropped revealing what was under it.

Naruto eyed the area from afar once again taking in the site. The once lush clearing with green grass was barren; the waterfall no longer was flowing and was dried out leaving only a giant mound of the stone crystals, the tree Naruto stood in no longer had the red and yellow leaves leaving it devoid of life. The biggest thing that caught his eye was the giant seal array carved into the clearing. All around the clearing, the ground, the former waterfall, the trees, seals were engraved. Naruto studied them trying to decipher it, but for the life of him he couldn't figure it out. One of the things he learned while training with the toads was Fuinjutsu, the Art of Sealing, just as Jiraiya and Yondaime had. He certainly was no Yondaime when it came to sealing, but he was no schlep in the art. Who ever made this array must've put years of effort into creating it.

It happened fast, it almost went unnoticed by Naruto. A presence appeared behind Naruto and a voice drifted into his ear. "Hi sweetheart," the voice said jokingly. Naruto, with reflexes born under fire, sprung from the tree trunk into the clearing, his body expertly twisting through the air, as the entire section of the tree he was standing on was cleaved in half by the former Kubikiri Hocho of Momochi Zabuza. The person jumped down from the tree Naruto previously inhabited and landed a about five meters from Naruto.

The white haired man stuck the giant sword into the ground and leaned on it nonchalantly. "Uzumaki Naruto, we were hoping you were the one they would send."

The man's statement put Naruto on edge. If what he said was true then this mission was turning out to be a trap. They knew that Konoha would send someone, and it so happened they wanted him to be the one sent.

"Hozuki Suigetsu," Naruto said, "it has been a long time. Last time I saw you, you were getting your ass kicked by Shikamaru."

"HA, as if that puny Chuunin ever posed a threat to me. His Ninjutsu couldn't handle me, not even when he used his shadows to snap my neck, twice."

Naruto grinned. "I remember your ability to turn your body into water without the use of Kawarimi or water clones. Makes you pretty hard to kill, right?"

The former Mist nin smiled at the blond. "You could say that."

"Why don't you tell me where the others are?" Naruto was referring to whoever Suigetsu was traveling with. Akatsuki never traveled alone; always in pairs did they travel.

"I wasn't supposed to engage anyone that was sent by Konoha. That Sasuke," he grumbled, "always thinking he can just boss people around. You know what I say to that? Fuck 'im, I do what I want when I want."

It was small, but Naruto gave a small shift at the mention of Sasuke. "So, he's with you then? Sasuke is within the perimeter?"

Suigetsu shrugged uncaring. "Don't know, and don't care. Last I saw him he was meditating in the hotel we were bunking at. Now, how about we get down to business?"

Naruto was already in motion before Suigetsu finished. He flew across the clearing, kunai in hand, directly at Suigetsu. The sword wielder reared back and swung the giant sword at the approaching blond. The sword is great for taking down large groups of people, but against single opponents you have to be a master like Zabuza was. Suigetsu, while good, was no Zabuza.

The swing came in slow and predictable. Naruto leapt so that he was above the sword. His feet touched the top of the giant sword and he used it to springboard himself over Suigetsu. His body hung upside down in mid air and as he passed over the white haired man he planted his kunai where his brain stem should rest. The entire exchange happened in seconds.

He landed feet first and turned back to his opponent already expecting the outcome. The body of Suigetsu still stood, but there was no head attached to the shoulders. On the ground was a puddle of water, all of which remained of the old head. The space between the shoulders bubbled for a second before shooting upward forming a new head, unharmed by the kunai.

"Do you have any idea how annoying it is to reform my head?" He charged at Naruto with the Kubikiri swinging at the blond. Naruto ducked under the first swing and had to twist his body away from a quick redirect of the sword. It went on like that for a few moments, Naruto dodging the wide swings of Suigetsu and occasionally destroying an arm or leg of Suigetsu. Naruto kept on backing up as Suigetsu pushed his attack relentlessly.

Naruto felt his back hit one of the trees, backed into a corner by the missing nin. He was cornered and it would be really difficult to dodge any attacks.

"I really expected better of someone that Sasuke is hesitant to fight," Suigetsu mocked as he dashed toward Naruto with great speed. He brought his sword up over his head intending to cut Naruto from head to toe. Naruto watched the incoming swing with no sign of worry. As it started to descend he dropped to one knee and bent his head backward at the tree he was up against.

"Now, Sakura." The "tree" that Naruto had backed up into disappeared and in its place stood the pink haired medic. She pulled back her fist and swung with all her might at the shocked Suigetsu. Not having any time to dodge or stop his bull rush, he did the only thing he could think of. He stopped his swing mid way to intercept the blow from the kunoichi.

The punch struck the Kubikiri Hocho shattering the giant sword. Her fist continued its path and went straight through Suigetsu's head. The head exploded in a mist of water leaving him once again headless.

"Now, Konohamaru," Naruto called out slamming his hand hard against the ground. From behind the headless ninja the last Sarutobi rose from the ground as if it weren't even there. His hands were gliding through well practiced hand seals. He finished the seals and places his hands to the ground, "**Doryuuken: Aku." **The ground around Suigetsu shifted and bubbled as it rose from the ground forming into a giant hand. Suigetsu just finished spawning his head when the giant hand of earth wrapped around him. He struggled in the hand for a moment, cursing, and then stopped realizing he couldn't escape.

Naruto rose from his kneeling position. "You may be able to dissolve your body and brush off any injury, but not even you can overcome nature. Earth will always beat water. That's why Hokage-sama made sure to give the team an Earth jutsu specialist in case we ran into you again," Naruto explained pointing to Konohamaru as his Earth Ninjutsu expert.

"Yeah well, hoorah for you," Suigetsu spat, clearly pissed off at being so outsmarted by someone he thought below him. "What are you going to do now?"

"I have some questions," Naruto said with a false smile.

Suigetsu smiled back. "Good for you, but unfortunately for you I don't have any answers."

"What are you guys doing with this seal array?" Naruto went on as if he hadn't said anything.

"Beats me, Sasuke and Madara are the brains of this operation. I'm just the hired help."

Naruto nodded at Konohamaru, "Kill him." They obviously weren't going to get anything out of the water user, and Naruto was never one for torture techniques. It's best to leave things like that to the ANBU.

Konohamaru went to make the last seal to crush Suigetsu to death when an arc of lightning shot out of nowhere cleaving the giant hand in half.

"To think that you would someday be able to actually explain something intelligently; the world must be coming to an end," a new voice rang across the barren clearing. The group turned to the new comer. Cloaked in black and the Kusanagi sword resting against his shoulder, Uchiha Sasuke looked as he did years ago, albeit a couple more inches. Flanking him stood the other two members of his special team, Juugo and Karin. Sasuke looked down at Suigetsu, disgust apparent in his eyes, "I thought I told you to not engage the enemy. You were to come get me if it was Naruto that showed up."

Suigetsu freed himself from the hand and dissolved into a puddle and reappeared next to Sasuke. "Yeah yeah, I'm sorry oh great master of everything, Uchiha Sasuke."

"We'll talk about this later. For now, kill the others while I take care of my old friend." Sasuke turned to Naruto with a small smirk, a challenging smirk. "How about a spar, for old times' sake?"

Naruto smiled, not for Sasuke talking about old times, but for the giant shadow passing over head. Team Hawk looked up as the giant form of Akamaru descended down at them. All of them scattered as the dog slammed into the ground causing cracks in the ground to appear. Team Hawk took off in different directions, jumping through the air. While in mid air, Juugo was met by a powerful Gatsuuga from Kiba that knocked him down into the trees. Karin twisted through the air, but was assaulted by a flock of seagulls made of ink that ripped at her skin on her way down to the forest floor. "Go assist Kiba and Sai, I will handle Sasuke," he said without turning to them, staring at Sasuke. He was the only one who didn't scatter away from the dog. Instead he just reappeared on the dogs head.

Sakura protested clearly not happy with the order. "No, I told you years ago that we would do this together. We will both work to bring Sasuke back." The poor girl, Naruto never told her that he no longer considered Sasuke his friend. He just couldn't bring himself to tell her that the next time he fought him that he would be using lethal force. There would be no taking Sasuke back to Konoha and the reformation of Team 7.

Naruto held up a hand stopping her protest. "This is something I have to do alone, Sakura. Go help out the others, especially Kiba, that Juugo is a monster. Konohamaru, you go and find Suigetsu and keep him off my back."

"Right, boss," Konohamaru took off without hesitation toward the spot he saw Suigetsu land, somewhere in the forest. Sakura didn't move at first, unsure of what to do. After a few moments of silence and no word from Naruto she nodded at his back and leapt up into a tree and went to find Kiba.

"And then there was one," Sasuke drawled, "I wonder, Naruto, just how much you have improved since we last fought. The last time we fought you were writhing on the ground like fish on land under my Chidori Nagashi. How much different will part three of our fight be?"

The words were an obviously trap to get Naruto riled up. If he were a few years younger he would have screamed and charged head first without any sort of plan. Now, he was disciplined. It's the reason he was promoted to Chuunin in the first place after his training with the toads.

Naruto opened his hands and waved his hands to the surrounding area. "What are planning to do here, Sasuke?"

Sasuke gestured to the huge seal array surrounding them. "Isn't it beautiful? Madara made it; he's been working on it for almost an entire century."

"And what does this seal do?"

"Isn't it obvious," Sasuke spoke calmly, "it's the next path to accomplish my ambitions."

Naruto started to make a response when he felt movement behind him. He looked back up at Akamaru's head only to find that both the dog and Sasuke were no longer there. "Genjutsu," Naruto snarled angrily. In the span it took Akamaru to land and run back into the trees to Kiba, Sasuke had weaved a genjutsu to make it look as if the dog never left and he dodged by jumping on its head and had the illusion hold a conversation. He felt so stupid; he should have known that Akamaru would never have let anyone stand on his head other than Kiba.

He spun on his heels barely avoiding a devastating thrust from the Kusanagi sword. The sword ripped through the back of his Jounin jacket just barely missing his skin. Naruto spun fully around to find Sasuke coming at him again with the legendary sword. His speed was phenomenal, surpassing even Kakashi's best speed.

Luckily, Naruto had sparred against both Gai and Lee and they were both much faster than this. With practiced precision he twisted away from Sasuke's attempts to slice him up. Naruto squatted down as the sword passed just over his head cutting a few hairs off. That's when Naruto got his opening to attack. From his squatting position he lurched forward aiming a punch at the exposed side of Sasuke. The Sharingan user twisted out of the way and swung his sword around in a wide arc. The sword strike came at Naruto too fast to dodge so he did the next best thing. He stepped in close enough to Sasuke so that their bodies were almost touching. This may have put him in an uncomfortable position, but it took him out of the path of the sword.

Naruto slammed a foot down on top Sasuke's to hold him in place. He swung his head forward slamming a crushing blow into Sasuke's nose. He was satisfied to hear a loud crunching noise telling him he broke Sasuke's nose and blood poured out of it like a faucet. He reared back for another assault when he saw Sasuke's eyes narrow dangerously. By pure instinct alone he felt his mind and body become detached and separate from where he stood and he found himself standing next to a tree at the edge of the clearing. Where he once stood, up close to Sasuke, was a large log that was in the middle of a storm of electricity as Sasuke employed his Chidori Nagashi.

Sasuke noticed the lack of Naruto within the lightning storm and ceased his attack on the log. He threw his body forward toward the ground into a shoulder roll as Naruto appeared behind him thrusting a kunai where one of his kidneys would have been. He swung his sword behind him once he got to his feet cutting the kunai Naruto had thrown in half. Pushing from the ground, Sasuke jumped into the air and flipped his body one hundred eighty degrees to face Naruto, his head pointing to the ground. He thrust his hand out toward his foe, an arc of lightning erupted from his outstretched hand zigzagging the distance in the direction of Naruto.

The arc of lightning crossed the distance in a flash. There was a loud cracking sound and the area Naruto was standing in was blown to pieces. Sasuke started to twist his body so he would land on his feet when a swirl of leaves appeared next to him. From the leaves emerged Naruto, unscathed from the lightning attack, and a Rasengan being thrust at the airborne Sasuke. Being airborne made it impossible to dodge. So, he reached out and latched a hand onto Naruto's extended wrist halting the Rasengan's advance. Using Naruto's arm as leverage he swung his body so that he landed on the outside of Naruto's right arm, out of the path of the Rasengan.

This left Naruto's entire right side open for attack. The Kusanagi flashed upward at Naruto's face, but the blond redirected the path of his Rasengan and brought his right arm up to defend his face. The sword struck the Rasengan with in his hand causing the chakra to go chaotic and blow both Naruto and Sasuke away across the clearing. Sasuke landed in the pile of stone crystals at the base of the nonexistent waterfall and Naruto slammed into one of the dead trees.

Naruto struggled back to his feet as pain shot through his back. Even for a strong ninja, a tree can be devastating. His back ached from the blow against the tree, but he has felt worse in his time. Nothing like a Chidori through the Chest or your skin being ripped apart by poisonous demonic chakra to add to your pain tolerance. Naruto tried to flex his right hand, the one that had held the Rasengan. It was a mangled mess, torn flesh and blood hung from it making his hand look like a piece of raw meat. It wasn't the sword that caused the injury; it was the Rasengan exploding in his hand. He knew that it would be healed in a couple days by the Kyuubi, but the pain was almost unbearable.

From within the stone crystals Sasuke rose from the pile of them. His right arm was cradled against his side, the arm that had held the Kusanagi sword. From what Naruto could see it looked like the force of the explosion had broken his arm.

The Uchiha user glared hatefully at Naruto. "I think we are done for today, Naruto," Sasuke called over to Naruto, "it's time."

Naruto adopted a look of confusion at the statement. "Time for what?"

Instead of answering, Sasuke formed a single seal and placed his hand on the ground. At the top of the dried up waterfall arose a monstrosity. A giant statue with two hands spread out before it and eight eyes rumbled up from the ground. There was another eye, but it wasn't opened. Naruto recognized the statue; it's the statue that Akatsuki uses to extract the Biju from a Jinchuriki. All around him the previous dormant seal array lit up like a beacon tapping both Naruto and Sasuke within the seal.

"What is this," Naruto snarled.

A smile adorned Sasuke's face. Not a normal smile, but one that bordered on the edge of insanity. "This is the past the present and the future. It is the salvation of the Uchiha clan and the destruction of Konoha. With this seal I will set everything right and how it should have been in the first place. You see, Naruto, everyone thought that these crystals were worthless. They have no monetary value compared to the jewelry that comes out of Earth Country. If only they knew the true potential of these stones. A stone that can store chakra could be a huge commodity in the shinobi world. All that I needed was all nine of the tailed demons to power the seal, and with your arrival I now have all nine."

Naruto had never moved so fast in his life. His body rocketed at Sasuke to stop him from doing whatever he planned to do. Just as he got near enough to bury his Kunai in his skull, Sasuke slammed a foot down onto the huge seal, **"Activate."**

The surrounding area lit up like a mini star. Yellow light poured over the clearing and the forest that could be seen for miles. The human like statue at the top of the waterfall's mouth opened and out came eight different colors of chakra, each one representing a different biju. From beyond the colored chakra emerged a blue light shaped like a dragon. The dragon immediately sought out Naruto, sensing the presence of demonic chakra within him.

Despite his attempts to move his feet stayed glued to the ground. The blue dragon slammed into Naruto throwing his body down to the ground. Pain ripped through his being as he felt the Kyuubi being extracted out of him. He could feel the fox's desperate attempts to fight off the being that had invaded his jailer. Nothing he did worked. Red chakra poured out of his seal into the surrounding area joining the mixture of other colored chakra.

Over by the crystals, Sasuke was muttering under his breath to keep the seal alive. His left hand was firmly placed against the ground to keep the seal from collapsing. Behind him the stone crystals were pulsing in an ethereal white light. Sasuke raised his broken right arm and slammed his hand down on the giant seal, ignoring the pain that shot through his arm. The crystals behind him shot off into the sky. The thousands of little stones came crashing down into the seal, the stored chakra being released into the surrounding area. The light from the seal grew in brightness to the point that it could be seen in the sky all around the continent.

A huge smile overcame Sasuke's features. "It's working," he screamed out to no one. He lifted his hands from the seal and slapped them together, **"Fuin."** The entire area erupted in a giant explosion engulfing everything. Everyone, including Naruto and Sasuke's team were vaporized and the town resting at the base of the forest blew vanished in a flash of light. The explosion continued its path all until it consumed the entire word, leaving nothing but emptiness.

X0x0x0x0x0x0X

He was laying on something hard and something was poking painfully into his back. Naruto rolled over and reached under pulling the rock from under him and rolled back onto his back. He opened his eyes and looked up into the blue sky, the occasional cloud drifting by. He shook himself out of Shikamaru's favorite past time and sat up. His right hand was sore, but when he looked at it he noticed that the skin had regenerated and was on its way to be a healthy hand once again.

Naruto climbed to his feet and felt the ache of the battle before in his body. He jogged his memory trying to recall what had happened. Everything quickly came back to him; the mission, the battle and the trap. It all came back in a giant whirlwind of memories. Naruto quickly lifted the tattered remains of his shirt and looked down at his stomach. He funneled a little bit of chakra down to it, but to his utter shock no spiral seal appeared, no evidence to show he ever had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him. He reached within himself digging for the fox's chakra, only to find his own chakra in its place.

"Shit," Naruto exclaimed, "they got the damn fox." That still didn't answer why he was alive. _Maybe this is heaven_ was the thought going through his mind. He looked around and quickly deduced he was not in heaven. He was back in the clearing again, only this time the clearing was full of vibrant green grass, red and yellow leaves and a nice waterfall. He quickly used the cancellation jutsu to dispel any genjutsu, but nothing happened. Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the phenomenon; something like this doesn't happen every day. He placed his fingers into a cross shaped seal, **"Kage Bunshin no jutsu."**

A dozen copies of himself appeared, all with torn shirts and haggard appearances. "Go and scout the area and look for the others. Tell them to come to the clearing when you find them." He told his shadow clones to go, but inside he was feeling queasy, for some reason he didn't think he team was out in the woods.

The air smelled different. Naruto couldn't put his finger on it, but it just smelled cleaner. He leapt up into one of the trees and rested his body. It wasn't long before he felt the presence of his shadow clones reenter his mind. The information they provided him caused a deep frown to mar his face. There was no trace of anyone within the perimeter. The clones scoured to the very edge of the forest. What was most unsettling was that the village that lived at the edge of the forest wasn't even there. Naruto thought of the explosion destroying it, but according to his shadow clone there's no sign that anything existed there in the first place.

He gathered himself and decided it was time to head back to Konoha. He could only pray that his team made their way back to the village. He needed to get back to the village quickly, just to make sure his team mates lived. Going back by foot would take about two to three hours. He didn't have the patience for that.

So, Naruto walked over to the waterfall. He bit down on his thumb and flipped through some seals and shoved his hand into the water. From the water came the yellow head of a toad no bigger than Naruto's hand. "Yo, how's it going Gamatatsu."

The bubbly toad gave Naruto a huge smile. "Heeey, Naruto. We've been hoping you'd contact us. You got the entire mountain in a frenzy. So...got any candy?"

Unlike his older brother and father, Gamatatsu didn't grow up into a huge frog. Instead he stayed small and was given different duties outside of combat. "Sorry, no candy today. What do you mean I have the entire mountain in a frenzy?"

Gamatatsu scratched at his chin for a second before smiling again. "I'm not sure. Only the counsel knows. I bet you will be getting a visit soon. What can I do you ya today?"

"I need you to take me to the river outside of Konoha."

"Sure thing," Gamatatsu exclaimed in excitement, "hop on in." The toad opened its mouth to unimaginable proportions, big enough to fit a man. Naruto sat himself in the mouth and closed his eyes as Gamatatsu swallowed the blond ninja whole. He sunk back into the waterfall and disappeared from the water. In seconds the toad traveled over thirty miles appearing in a calm river just outside of Konoha. Gamatatsu opened his mouth and Naruto expelled from his mouth.

Naruto landed on his feet and turned to the small frog. "Thanks for the lift." The toad gave a small wave and disappeared with a small pop. Naruto leapt up into the tree and traveled the last mile with great haste. He felt relief as he saw the familiar mountain appear on the horizon, he picked up more speed desperate to get home. As he got closer and closer the uneasiness started to come back, this time tenfold. He slammed on the breaks and looked up at the mountain, the great mountain that bore the faces of the Hokage. Only this mountain didn't have anything on it. No faces, no nothing was on it; just a normal mountain in the middle of a huge forest. Naruto took in the surroundings; no houses, no walls, no people. Nothing. Everything was gone as if it never existed. In its place was a plain mountain and a whole lot of trees.

All he could do was stare in numb shock at the emptiness. His mind was so numb that he didn't feel the tree trunk crashing down on him until it hit his head and knocked him unconscious.

**AN:** This concludes my first chapter. Review and let me know what you think.

For any of you looking for a good Naruto forum there is a forum called A Demons Desire. We give real reviews to fics, in depth critique, have a library full of quality fanfiction and great discussion. The only requirement is that when you post you do it with a level of intelligence. Here's a link and there is also one in my profile, also make sure to read the tenets under the link in my profile...http : / / z6 . invisionfree . com /A Demons Desire/


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, welcome to chapter 2 of my fic. Once again this is unbeta'd. Only 2 reviews ;) but it's to be expected with new stories. For those of you who tried to go to the forum I mentioned at the bottom of last chapter; the forum had a technical difficulty and you would have saw a white page. Yeah, that has been fixed and the skins are back online. You can find the link in my profile; it's called A Demon's Desire. You can find me on there most of the day, I usually hang around irc. So, if you want to chat Naruto, anime or just talk come on over. If you join make sure to post an introduction for quick validation ;D Onto the story…….

Drip…..drip…..drip…..the sound drove Naruto up the wall the first couple days, but he has finally gotten used to it. His foot tapped against the earthen wall as each drip impacted the dirt floor. He had woken up four days ago to find himself locked away in a cell. The bars of the cell were made of what look liked tree trunks which to Naruto displeasure refused to break. The ground was just dirt, but it was reinforced with chakra to he couldn't dig out and the walls were simple planks of wood. There was never a guard present in the room his cell was placed. He knew that one stood guard on the outside of the door for safety precaution. No one had come to talk to him yet, the only human contact he's had was earlier in the day when a bowl of slop was thrown into his cell for him to eat.

Naruto's foot tapped against the wall as another drip hit the floor _10,134……10,135……10,136….._ he heard a shuffle outside the door to the room. Naruto gave a small grin, just like clockwork. In the few days since he'd awake he had already figured out the rotation schedule for the guards, thanks to the irritating water drips.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position. The knot on his head was starting to feel better. He no longer saw stars when he tried to sit up and the pain only came if he touched it; which brought his train of thought to his current predicament. _What the fuck is happening?_ Dozens of scenarios and ideas recycled through his mind for days, every one of them just as unlikely as the next. Konoha, the Hokage Monument, the people; all of it gone. Everything Naruto knew about Ninjutsu told him that this just wasn't possible…but that seal array of Sasuke's was bigger and more powerful than anything he'd ever seen before. All he knew was that he was being held prisoner by some people he didn't recognized and it was really starting to piss him off.

Naruto scooted back to his back was against the wall. He wasn't provided any replacement clothing. His shirtless torso was covered in bruises that would have been healed in hours when had the fox. _Hmph, I guess I will miss the damn fox. Now, I have to heal like normal people_, Naruto grumbled internally.

A shuffling sound echoed from within the cell. Naruto snapped his over to the opposite side of the cell. He thought he saw something moving in the shadows, but he brushed it off as a trick of the very little amount of light in the room. Being locked in a small cage with no contact and little light can play tricks even on the strongest minds. The shuffling sound came again, but this time Naruto didn't even look. He leaned back and closed his eye hoping to get some sleep.

"Hey, Naruto," a voice whispered in his ear.

Naruto jumped up from his seated position so fast he was a blur. He applied chakra to all of his limbs and stuck himself to the ceiling, searching the ground below him. A small shape was moving with the shadows of the cage, slowly slinking forward toward the small amount of light that would give Naruto a visual of his visitor. He watched with bated breath as a small toad shuffled out of the shadows. His old face was covered in a beard and he was wearing a black cloak. His walking cane clunked against the ground with each step. The elderly toad looked up at the ceiling straight at Naruto.

"Oi, bozo, come down and give yer ole' pappy Fukasaku a hug," the old toad croaked.

Naruto dropped from the ceiling and landed in a squatting position before the old frog. Fukasaku-sama, one of the elder toads of Mt. Myouboku, second to only the great Sage himself. The toad responsible for teaching Naruto (and Jiraiya) everything they knew about Toad Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto's question was whispered, but you could hear the surprise in his voice.

The old frog thunked Naruto on the head with his cane causing a small hiss of pain from the blond. "Ya really got yaself into a bind, Naruto," he said gesturing to the surrounding cage.

"I don't know what's happening," Naruto whispered frantically, "one minute I'm fighting Sasuke and the next I find that nothing is as it was anymore. Konoha is no longer where it should be, the people of the village are nowhere to be found. What the hell happened!"

Fukasaku waved a hand at Naruto telling him to calm down. "We know what happened. The Great Sage foresaw this moments before it happened."

A spark of hope lit in Naruto's eyes. Maybe everything is going to turn out alright after all. "So…everything's okay? Are my friends safe?"

The old toad titled his head to the side and gave Naruto a level look. "Tha depends on how ya define safe. Did they escape harm? Sort of. De' something happen ta them? Yes."

"Are they dead?" Naruto snapped in anger. The very thought of a yes answer was making it difficult to breath.

"They're not so much dead as thay aren't alive yet," the old amphibian said cryptically.

Naruto looked at the frog with a lost expression on his face. "Please, don't do what Jiraiya used to do to me and make me figure it out all on my own," he whispered tiredly.

A pipe appeared in the toads hand from with his cloak. He gave the pipe a couple puffs before answering the downtrodden blond. "Tha seal array your friend used," he said, ignoring Naruto's angered words at calling Sasuke his friend, "we on the mountain have never seen anything like it before. It took us days ta break it apart and find out what it did."

"What did it do?" Naruto asked desperately.

"It was a space time Fuinjutsu," Fukasaku rumbled," The first of its kind. The seal had so much chakra pouring inta it. It tore apart the space time fabric and folded it over on itself."

The explanation did little for Naruto. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to comprehend what he was just told. "Sooo, that means what to me?"

Fukasaku sighed. "It means yer in the past, dumbass."

Dumbfounded, Naruto didn't notice had his behind hit the ground. The news washed over him like a tidal wave of emotions. To think, that something of such magnitude could be achieved. Naruto looked back to the old toad that was standing calmly puffing on his pipe. "That's not possible. The amount of chakra needed would be beyond astronomical," he muttered.

"Now, yer just talkin' silly," Fukasaku intoned, "tha Uchiha had plenny of power at his disposal for the seal. Don't ya recall him releasin' the combined mite of every single one of ta biju? As well as almost a century's wert of human chakra escaping from those stone crystals? Tha was more than enough power ta activate the seal."

Naruto started to shake his head refusing to believe the explanation. The wooden cane cracked hard against his skull causing white spots to cloud his vision. "Ya need ta pull yaself togetha;" the aged leader hissed, "the sooner ya accept wha' has happened the likelier ya will get out o' here alive."

He continued in a softer tone. "Wha ot'er evidence ya need, Naruto? Konoha is gone, the people ar' gone; **you are in the past**."

Naruto shook his head to clear the cobwebs from the toads blow to the head. "Let's say that I believe you. How come I still have a contract with the toads? I couldn't very well summon a toad to a contract I haven't signed."

"Thas a tricky question," his voice came out in a frog like croak, "the summonin' contracts are more than jus' signing yer name on a piece of parchment. The contract anchors itself within the very soul of the signee. By comin' back ta the past ya have also brought back the entire toad population o' Mt. Myouboku. Yer name has appeared on ta toad summonin' contract in tis time period."

The listening blonde's eyes grew wide. "Wait, are you saying that there are two of every toad now? There are two of you? Two Gamabuntas?"

"No," his voice came serious, "what we gathered the last couple days is this, and _remember it well, Naruto._ No two of the same being can co exist within the same plane of existence. All of the toads of this time period were banished once the older souls of the time traveling toads appeared." Naruto realized that the old toad spoke without his usual accent, something he only heard when he was beyond serious. "You MUST keep this in mind, especially if you are alive when your counterpart is conceived. If you are still alive when your parents procreate you then that procreation will NOT happen."

Naruto could feel a headache coming on and it had nothing to do with being smacked on the head a couple times. "So, does this mean that all the summoned animals have knowledge of the future?"

"No, the only ones that would know are those who were sent back in time with their signee. We only know of one other animal that came back with us."

He felt a lead ball drop in his stomach. Everything just sent from terrible to disastrous. "Sasuke," he whispered fearfully. His old friends words came back to him like a sledgehammer _"__This is the past the present and the future. It is the salvation of the Uchiha clan and the destruction of Konoha. With this seal I will set everything right and how it should have been in the first place."_ So **this** was what Sasuke had planned on doing, to come back to when it all began and change everything.

"Aye," Fukasaku frowned, "it would seem tha Sasuke was the only one within the seal with ya when it went off."

Naruto slammed a fist into the ground. "Damn it," he yelled in frustration. Nothing ever seemed to go his way. "What am I going to do?"

"Well," the old toad began, "the timeline has started out as a blank slate. Ya could do pretty much whatever ya want to change the future. Or ya could leave things alone and let them run their course. Though, who knows what repercussions have already happened because of yer presence here."

"I guess I'm stuck here," Naruto sighed. Many thoughts flew his head at once. His friends were now gone, not even born yet, all the work he'd done to be recognized was now for naught, everything that happened was now irrelev—Naruto's mind hit the brakes. _Everything that happened hasn't happened yet! The old lady will still be alive, Jiraiya will be alive and kicking, every bad thing that has happened within the last two years is _irrelevant. Naruto's mind worked as he started to gain more hope. "I can do this," he said to no one in particular, "I can make everything better."

Another cane smack was heading for his head, but this time Naruto blocked it with an open palm. "Yer forgetting somethin', lad," Fukasaku grumbled, "the second ya do somethin' ta change history all of yer future knowledge becomes unreliable."

Naruto rubbed the sore spot in his palm from the cane. "I know that, but I also have to think about what Sasuke is doing right now. I have no doubt that he is going to start to position himself in some way in order to benefit the Uchiha."

"Very well," the sage inclined his head, "I leave you to your bidding. Try not to die, Naruto. As the only person who holds the toad contract in this time period it will be up to you to make Jiraiya sign the contract." His departing word were without his accent once again implying how serious he was.

With that the old toad disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving nothing but the cell and Naruto. He contemplated the old frogs' last words. He remembered how sad Fukasaku was when Jiraiya died. It would seem he's depending on Naruto to pass on the contract to the young pervert when he becomes a ninja. Naruto, as the primary contract signee was the only person permitted to go to Mt. Myouboku, which meant that unless Naruto lets Jiraiya sign the contract the unborn legend will never get the contract. If he recalled correctly, the original Jiraiya found Mt. Myouboku by accident and since no one had the contract at the time he was allowed to enter the mountain, but with Naruto here he won't be able to.

So, Naruto made himself a vow that no matter what, he would pass that contract on to his old sensei just like he passed it on to him. If he could, he would make him even stronger than his older counterpart so he won't ever fall victim to a person like Pain again.

The door to the room opened. Two guards walked stiffly into the small square prison of one. They were both wearing dark green body armor made of some kind of metal. It was certainly old fashion to Naruto, or rather to be correct; it would be considered "what's in" for a shinobi. They looked to be student and teacher. One had long white hair and a mean wrinkled looking face and the other was young with long black hair. The boy looked to be about thirteen years old, but his face already carried the scars of battle. One scar crossed over his eye very much like Kakashi, but this kid got lucky and didn't lose his eye.

They looked at Naruto like he was a disgusting bug on the bottom of their shoe. The older man nodded to the younger ninja. Taking his cue he stomped over to cell and placed his hand somewhere on the outside of the bars. The wooden bars lowered into the ground and left the front of the cage open. Naruto didn't make a move toward the open front of his cell. To do so would guarantee an act of violence directed at him. So, he just sat coolly on the ground allowing his captures to do what they wanted.

The old man with the mean face shooed the younger shinobi away from the cell and approached the entrance of it, about four feet from Naruto. "Name," his voice came out harsh and demanding. He was obviously a man who got what he wanted. This made Naruto figure that he was the equivalent of Ibiki, the predecessor of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Squad.

He knew it was pointless to lie. Besides, he wasn't trying to make enemies. "Naruto," he answered calmly.

His interrogator either didn't care or it was very common that he had someone who didn't give or have a last name. "You were found trespassing on Senju Clan territory," the aged man said in a deep baritone, "this crime comes with a high price as decreed by our leader. What say you?"

"Well," Naruto started, unsure of how to answer, "I made a wrong turn somewhere?"

The answer didn't get him any reaction. The interrogator just started back impassively as the attempted joke.

"What? They don't have humor in these parts?" Naruto prodded his captor verbally.

Apparently they didn't. He beckoned to the young ninja standing on against the wall behind him. "Bring me the tools, boy." He came at his superiors command pulling out a wrapped cloth. He slowly unrolled the cloth revealing a multitude of worn torture devices; small carving knives, clamps, a small brand, a feather and some other things Naruto had never seen before. All he could see was that they were all covered in blood having not been washed from their last victim.

"Now," the torture master growled, "you will tell me which clan sent you and what your mission was."

Naruto rolled his eyes, not scared by the pony show the elderly man was putting on. The gesture of his eyes rolling seemed to throw the stoic man into a fit. His eyes narrowed dangerously and his jaw muscles were clenching and unclenching. "Have it your way," he turned to the adolescent ninja, "restrain him, now."

As if he had done this a hundred times the youthful ninja marched to where Naruto sat calmly within his chakra enforced cell. He grabbed a length of rope from within his green armor and entered Naruto's cell. He approached his captive without hesitation, clearly not expecting a person whose spend the last four days locked in a chakra drainage cell and with little food to put up a fight.

As soon as the boy was in range Naruto's foot lashed out and connected with his knee cap. The boy let out a strangled yell as he fell to the floor with a shattered knee. Naruto rolled back to that his palms touched the ground over his head and he pushed upward throwing his body back onto his feet.

The old ninja jumped up from his chair as soon as his foot hit the teenagers' leg. He grabbed one of the carving knives and threw it at the now standing blond. Naruto bent over as the knife passed over him and he crossed the distance in three long strides. The old man started to flip through a series of seals when Naruto clamped down the seal making hands. He pulled the old man toward him, unbalancing him, and slammed a knee into the green armor. The blow was strong enough to cave in the spot he hit and drive straight into his gut. The old man dropped to his knees and Naruto put him out of commission with a stiff blow to the neck.

Naruto inspected his handiwork. Both interrogators are unconscious, the teen having passed out from the pain of his knee being devastated. As expected of a person whose specialty relies in torture and interrogation; they were fiends at their job, but weak as field shinobi.

"All in a days' work," Naruto mumbled. He got on one knee and searched the old man until he came up with a single key. Naruto pressed an ear to the door listening for any guards and checking for traps. He didn't sense anything so skipped the lone key into the lock and pulled open the thick wooden door.

He stepped out into the hall and regretted it immediately. Two tree trunks burst out of the ground at his sided. They waggled in the air for a second before darting at the escapee. Naruto quickly clapped his hands together and two shadow clones poofed into existence. The two clones intercepted the large tree trunks and held them in place and Naruto jetted past them, his body leaned forward to give him more momentum.

The tunnel was only lit by a series of torches along the walls. He felt the tunnels were underground because he felt himself running on an incline leading upward. Naruto kept at full speed, even as another large arm of wood burst in his path. He pivoted on his right foot and swung his body in a the hundred sixty degree turn out of the way of the path blocking wood. Another one erupted through the ground and shot at Naruto looking to impale him. He leapfrogged over the wood, his hands pushing off the top and guiding him past it. He continued around a bend bypassing a group of vines trying to wrap up his ankles. An entrance way was lit up before him, sunlight pouring into it.

Light grew brighter as he drew nearer. A dark silhouette appeared in the light facing Naruto. His eyes narrowed as he saw the figure shift its stance. He propelled himself toward the offending obstacle. The shadow lunged forward with a punch aimed to knock Naruto silly. Naruto saw the punch before it was thrown. He allowed his forward momentum to carry him to the ground. His shoulder smacked the dirt as he shoulder rolled under the punch. He rolled up all the way back up to his feet and kept running when a foot appeared in his vision. He dug his feet into the ground and threw his arms up to his face catching the foot in between his forearms.

The person who threw the kick pulled back with his leg and thrust it outward breaking Naruto's hold on his foot. This was the first time Naruto got a look at his surroundings, the previous tunnel vision having blurred his perception of his environment. He was in a village of some sorts. Wooden huts scattered throughout the area leaving no real space for a street and he saw even more houses up in the trees. All around him were people dressed in metal armor just like his two previous interrogators, each a different color. Each and every one of them were glaring daggers at Naruto and holding all sorts of pointy weapons. Naruto felt the weight of all their stares, the subtle killer intent that some leaked at him because of his attempted escape.

He heard a clapping sound behind him. He twisted his head to the sound and saw the man who tried to slug him earlier. The man wore deep red armor and had long black hair and deep black eyes. A small smile fit his face giving him the appearance of a snake. It vaguely reminded him of Orochimaru, Naruto shivered at the thought.

"Very impressive," the red armored man announced in a very deep baritone, "you are the first person to ever escape our guest quarters." The man's voice was one you never wanted to hear in a dark alley at night.

Another man stepped up next to the one who had spoken. Naruto recognized him as the man who tried to kick him. His armor was blue, his face was adorned with three red tattoos; one on each cheek and one on his chin, and his hair was dark gray. "Yes, indeed, very impressive," his voice was the opposite of his partner, light and slightly high pitched.

Naruto watched them warily. He had no escape out of his current predicament, unless he whipped out some serious Toad Ninjutsu. He spread his hands out, palms facing up; a universal sign of peace.

The red armored guy raised an eyebrow at the gesture. "You're giving yourself up? Pity, I haven't had a decent fight in months, not since the Tea mission and Madara."

"Look," Naruto said carefully, "I don't want any trouble. I just got lost and found myself in your territory." Naruto had never felt so nervous in his life. The two men standing before him; he recognized them. How could he not? Their pictures were hanging in the office of the Hokage. Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama, the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage were standing before him.

"Not looking for trouble he says," Tobirama slightly mocked, "you should've thought of that before you attacked two members of our clan."

Hashirama placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Enough, Tobirama. Our guest has done what any prisoner would have done." The future Shodai Hokage walked over to Naruto like they were best friends. "Welcome to Fire Country. My name is Senju Hashirama and congratulations of passing your test."

"What test?" Naruto didn't know what the man was playing at, but it set him on edge.

Hashirama grinned big at Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder. "The test that tells us if you are too dangerous to let live or not."

Naruto felt the ground behind him shift under him and only had a millisecond to perform a replacement as a jagged piece of woodland ripped through the spot he previously inhabited. _Man, I didn't think Shodai-sama would be so…cold hearted,_ Naruto thought. The air around Naruto dropped in temperature and he could vaguely see the water vapor in the air pull away from him. He twisted his head to the right to see a giant wall of water racing toward him being guided by the future Nidaime Hokage.

Water came rushing at Naruto like a tsunami; he could feel the moister looming down on him as the shadow of the giant wave swarmed over him. Dodging was impossible, but who said anything about dodging? Naruto brought his hand up to his mouth and bit into his thumb. His hands blurred through a series of seals and he extended his hand out in front of him, **"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."**

He only applied a small portion of his chakra into the jutsu. The area in front of Naruto wavered for a second before exploding in a cloud of smoke. From within the smoke a dark green toad the size of a house appeared, its head easily reaching the top of the trees. Strapped to one arm the giant toad had a huge metal shield and on his back clung a long katana. Without instructions the toad swung the long square shield over his head and slammed it into the ground, horizontally, to block the oncoming water.

Naruto leapt onto the toads back and easily climbed his was up to its head. He watched as the water slammed into the shield and went around him and the toad. The summoned animal grunted and dug its heels into the ground as the water pushed even harder. Naruto looked out over the wave at his attackers. Senju Hashirama stood wide eyed at the sight before him. His brother, Tobirama, also had a flabbergasted look as he controlled the water. The other clan members looked at the display with a look of apprehension. _Geeze, you'd think they'd never seen a basic summoning jutsu in their life,_ Naruto thought incredulously.

The water subsided and no one made a move. "Hey, Gama," Naruto called to the toad, "make us a path out of here."

"Right, boss," the toad said. The toad reared back its head and started to make loud gulping sounds. His gullet grew in size like a balloon and just when it looked like it was going to pop the toad threw its head down, mouth opened. Green goo erupted from its mouth. It sprayed and splashed all over the place. Nothing was safe from the onslaught of goo. People were drenched, wooden huts were drenched, the tree branches ground from the weight of the slime landing on them. As soon as the gunk touched something it immediately stuck to them like glue. All of the Senju clan present found themselves stuck to the ground, unable to move.

"Take us out of here," Naruto called out to his ride. The toad squatted down on all fours and pushed off hard from the ground. He jumped high into the air easily clearing all of the people below. They landed a couple yards over with another dozen jumps they were out of reach of the Senju and on their way out of captivity.

Back at the small village two brothers up in a tree, not covered in goo watched the retreating figure hop off into the distance.

X0x0x0x0x0x0X

Only twice had Senju Hashirama been startled so much that he found himself too shocked to respond. The first time was when his father fell in battle against the leader of the Uchiha, Uchiha Madara. The second time happened just moments ago when some unknown blond haired warrior did an actual summoning jutsu in front of him. Something like that most would think wouldn't shock a man like Hashirama, but when someone comes into your home and does a form of Ninjutsu thought lost for over a century you have cause to be shocked.

His brother, Tobirama, landed on the ground next to him. The enormous toad and the blond were well beyond the horizon and it would take days to catch up. "Did you just see what I saw?" Tobirama questioned?

"If you're referring to the guy who just did a summoning jutsu in our home, then yes, I did."

Tobirama frowned. "I thought summoning died when grandfather was killed. Grandfather was the last known person capable of summoning an animal, when he died I thought summoning died with him."

"It looks like someone found a contract," Hashirama spoke quietly.

"I hope him living doesn't come back to bite us in the ass," Tobirama warned his brother. Always the pessimist was Tobirama. He always looked for the negative in any situation.

Hashirama gave his brother a calming wave of his hand. "Actually, I don't think that man will be a problem for us. I don't think he meant us any harm."

"How can you be sure," Tobirama questioned, "that man was obviously extremely powerful. He spent four days in a cell designed to drain the chakra of its inhabitants and yet he was still able to summon a moderately sized animal and ride it out of here. Not only that, but he didn't look winded at all."

"Because," the red armored ninja spoke, his voice deep and carrying over the clearing "if he truly meant to cause the Senju clan harm he had his chance when he incapacitated the entire clan with that sludge. One swing of that toads sword and he could have crippled our entire clan. Instead, he simply left without killing a single soul."

Crease marks lined Tobiramas' head as he processed the information. "Damn," he mumbled, "we just attacked a potential ally."

Hashirama laughed. "Don't worry, he'll be back eventually."

"Oh? How do you figure that?"

"Because," Hashirama grinned, "we still have all of his equipment." He held up a small bad that ninja wear on their hip. "This," he reached into the bag and out an oddly shaped kunai, "is not something commonly used. I don't think it's something he uses in combat either. He only has one of these tri pronged kunai and a dozen normal kunai. It's either a family heirloom or an experiment of his. I have no doubt he will come back just so he can reclaim that kunai."

"Maybe. You have been wrong before. I hope he comes back, it's not every day you meet a person who can do the stuff we just saw," Tobirama spoke.

The older brother placed a hand on Tobiramas' shoulder. "We will think on this later. For now, call up a storm and wash away all of this mess."

XoxoxoxoxoX

The toad gave one last hope before Naruto told it to stop. He slid down the back of the toad onto the ground. He looked up into the cloudless sky. It was around dusk, the sun had set, but the sky bled orange. The toad inclined its head at Naruto and disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the blond all lone.

He found himself back where this all started, back in Sun Forest, with its beautiful waterfall and the stone crystals glimmering form within the water. Naruto cracked his sore neck and rubbed his arms over his shirtless torso. Naruto quickly made some shadow clones to go gather some wood and leaves. As they went off to collect his materials for a camp fire he sat down on the ground to contemplate the last couple of events in his like.

"Okay," Naruto said aloud to no one but himself, "so, I am somehow in the past in a time before the hidden villages were even founded. I was captured by the eventual founding family of Konoha, the Senju clan. Their leader, the future Shodai Hokage, is a cold hearted bastard who will kill anything that poses a threat to his clan. His brother isn't much different, just a little bit more sarcastic. Fuck, what I am supposed to do now?"

Naruto crossed his arms in thought. The answer was obvious; he had only one mission right now and that was to find Sasuke and stop him from whatever he plans to do. Even Naruto could figure out that to find Sasuke meant to find the Uchiha clan. Naruto sighed tiredly, _Great, going from one lion's den to another. Isn't life grand?_

That's it for the second chapter. A little shorter than chapter 1, but still over 5 thousand words. Please, drop me a review and let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the wait. Between school and overall laziness this has been a long time coming. This is unbeta's so there will probably be grammar mistakes. I needed to get this out there, so I wrote the last 6 pages in the last hour. I hope it doesn't feel rushed.**

* * *

A drop of water crashed against his head for the hundredth time since he had snuck onto the ship. Naruto sighed as the drop trickled through his hair. He didn't complain about it. The people around him had it ten times worse. Dozens of people sat in the bowels of the ship. Dirt matted their hair, they wore weather beaten clothing and each had a look of a beaten man. No one said anything; they all just kept their heads down and kept their own counsel. These people are slaves; people who had the ill-fated luck to have their village crushed by a rogue group of criminals or a clan looking for more land. It was stuff like this that made Naruto wish he had paid more attention in history class. Growing up in a land of freedom he had grown accustomed to how things were in his old life. The presence of slaves had caught him off guard.

His search for any clue about Sasuke led him around Fire Country and during that time he found that more than three quarters of the towns and cities he knew of were not even created yet; in their places were either acres of trees or empty fields of land.

Naruto wasn't sure if what was happening was historically accurate, but the Uchiha were up to something. When he first entered the part of Fire Country that the Uchiha inhabited he was almost certain that an attack against him would happen. However, to his great surprise, he found the entire area devoid of life except for the occasional feline. The shops, houses and other buildings owned by the Uchiha were all vacant. Almost everything had been left behind; mostly personal possessions like clothing, furniture and other things, only the important things had been taken; live stock, weapons, scrolls and various other objects.

An entire clan just up and leaving wasn't something that happened every day, especially in this day and age. Like all major clans, the Uchiha paid for thei land in blood hundreds of years ago. To just discard the land their ancestors died for is a grave insult. It would have to be something of great importance to make them leave it behind. Determined to find out what happened to the great clan, Naruto set out on a basic search and locate mission.

All of the small villages he visited all said the same thing; the Uchiha just up and left over a week ago without so much as a warning. All of his searching led him to his current predicament; an Uchiha owned steam boat filled with slaves and livestock. Trying to sneak around in plain sight of the Uchiha was just asking to be caught so Naruto went through the back door and disguised himself as a slave. He fit in just fine, all he had to do was throw some dirt in his hair and trade his clean out fit for some dirty ones, and the Uchiha didn't notice a thing.

Naruto felt something nudge him in the ribs. His eyes slid over to the source of the nudge. A little brown haired girl seated next to him was staring him with big cinnamon brown eyes. Such innocence was a rarity in this violent era. His lips tugged at the corners as he reached over and poked the five year old softly in her stomach. The poke caused the girl to emit a small squeal of laughter which promptly caused Naruto and everyone else around them to wince.

The noise attracted the overseer. The overseer was a large Uchiha with a rather pronounced gut. His grey hair was tied in a top knot and he had an everlasting sneer on his face. The squeal had quickly caught his attention which was why everyone had winced. Only a crazy man would ever attract the overseer. The hulking Uchiha instantly zeroed in on the noise and stomped over. He pulled out a thick brown whip as he pushed his way through the throng of slaves.

"No talking," he growled at the girl. He let the whip unravel and reared back to dish out the punishment. A look of sheer panic mixed with horror appeared on her face as the whip started to descend.

"Wait," Naruto said, "it's my fault. Punish me instead."

The overseer halted and fixed his black eyes on Naruto. "Is that right," he said. A large smile blossomed out over his face, "I guess that means I have two people to punish now." A loud crack echoed within the hull; Naruto felt a sting slash across his chest. The pain was miniscule to someone who has had a blade of lightning shoved through his chest. Another loud crack echoed and a loud cry of pain came from the little girl.

The Uchiha smiled maliciously down at the girl and then at Naruto. "No more from you two."

Naruto looked over at the girl. He suppressed a growl as he saw a long gash across her cheek that was leaking blood. He fixated on the retreating back of the Uchiha overseer. It took a great amount of control to suppress his murderous aura. He took a deep breath and controlled his anger and looked back at the weeping girl. The cut on her face would leave a scar, such a shame for something to happen to one so young. Two adults were clinging onto the girl; he assumed her parents.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked her.

The father cut off his daughters answer. "Shut up you," he whispered furiously, "you've done enough harm already. Do us a favor and leave us alone!"

Naruto's blue eyes dimmed slightly as the father glared at him. He backed off and retook his previous spot against the wall. A drop of water slapped atop his head.

* * *

The harbor was bustling with people. The island's inhabitance eagerly traded with various Uchiha members. Naruto watched from his place in the chain gang. He took in the surroundings, the people, the items for sale and other things. He had already formed three different escape routes if the occasion called for it.

Out on the horizon the ships of the Uchiha were massed like a giant sea snake. Wooden transport boats that carried the cargo rested on the beach front. Naruto's chain gang was part of the group unloading the boats.

A chain consists of a group of prisoners, or in this case slaves, shackled together with iron bands and chain. Half a dozen men were shackled to Naruto. Naruto grasped a large wooden crate with another prisoner and heaved it.

The crate was light for him, but he could see his guy he was lifting with struggled with the weight. He adjusted his grip and put more muscle into it.

"That better?" Naruto whispered over to him.

"Yeah, thanks," the guy mumbled. His brown hair was cropped short and he was missing one of his front teeth.

"So, where're from?"

The slave's eyes shifted silently. "Hey man, I don't want to get into trouble, just keep your head down and work."

"Suit yourself," Naruto mumbled. His irritation was starting to grow with these people. Sure, he understood that they lost and were taken prisoner, but not a one of them tried to resist or free themselves. Not all of the Uchiha were ninja, all it would take is planning and timing for them to escape. Instead they just sat there and went on with life and that's what pissed Naruto off about these slaves.

The chain gang traveled up the beach and into the port town with their cargo. The town was more of a collection of hovels than a real town. Mud and hay shaped their housing. Naruto knew this pitiful village would later become a vital port for Kirigakure during the First and Second Great Shinobi War. The trade that was conducted here during those wars kept the conflicted Hidden Village in the wars long enough that it eventually solidified them as a fully recognized Hidden Village and was permitted to have its own Kage.

"Alright you lot," another overseer screamed at Naruto's group, "you guys come with me." Just like all the other overseers he carried a whip and was on a major power trip. He wore a conical hat that covered down to his eyes. His pants looked to me made of a fine silk that no doubt had been plundered from the future _Tsuchi no Kuni _and their silk fields. Naruto was able to get a small glimpse of his eyes and quickly noticed the presence of an undeveloped Sharingan.

Naruto's group obeyed the command and shuffled along with the guard. He led them past the port town and onto a dirt path that cut through a dense forest. The overseer didn't say anything to them. He just led from the front with his back to the slaves. Naruto gave a discreet smile. He obviously didn't expect much of a threat from any of the slaves.

Naruto took a quick peek behind the group. They port was starting to shrink as they got farther away; far away enough for Naruto to make his move. With a sliver of Senjutsu Naruto pulled the chain and cuffs that held him apart like a wet paper towel. The only person who noticed was the slave next to him who was looking at Naruto wide eyed. Naruto winked at him and placed a finger on his lips telling him not to make a sound.

He lurked to the front of the line fixing his focus on the overseers back. He made sure to signal the slaves to be silent as he passed. The overseer didn't notice a thing. Naruto's left arm slammed against the back of his head while his right hand grabbed the man's chin. With a sickening twist and crack the slaver fell to the ground in a dead slump. Naruto reached down and yanked the keys off of the fallen man's waist belt.

"Listen closely," he said as he undid the chains of the other slaves, "this will not go unnoticed for long. Scatter into the woods and find a local village to settle in. Don't travel in a large group, you will be found that way. Spread out, find a place to live and live peacefully."

The group was looking at him with something akin to hero worship. It wasn't everyday that someone saved you from a life of slavery. Naruto waved them off. "Go on, get out of here." They didn't need to be told twice. All six of them went off in a different direction.

"Um…" Naruto turned to the voice. It was one of the female slaved he just saved.

"Yes?"

"I have son, he is back at the port," she said, her voice full of anguish, "please save him! I will do anything you ask." He noticed her chest swell out suggestively a little as she finished. It was obvious she expected something physical to be demanded of her as payment.

He had to admit, the lady did have a nice chest, _Whoa there Naruto, time to think with the other brain._ "I'll do what I can," Naruto consoled her. The lady smiled at him and gave him the child's name. Naruto watched her back as she disappeared into the wood. When he was sure she was gone he continued on with his mission. He felt bad about lying to her, but he had more pressing issues to handle over her son. At the moment he had the element of surprise on his side, if he went prancing around the occupied harbor to free some slaves he would lose that advantage.

The dirt road continued on for another fifty miles. Since Mizu no Kuni was a little over two hundred miles across he found himself a quarter of the way inland. Naruto frowned once he reached the end of the road. It wasn't what he had expected to find. No city, no people, just some stakes in the ground and what looked like the beginning of a wall.

Frown lines creased his forehead at the site. The area was surrounded by forest just like Konoha would have been. A slight fog or mist had settled down on the land, which Naruto knew would never fully go away. The unfinished walls were made from chopped down tress that stumps he could see on the tree line.

A slight sound reached his ears. Naruto strained his hearing as best he could and instantly recognized the sound of two voices. He pushed some chakra into his legs and with a great leap landed on the trunk of a perimeter tree. With a hand seal and a whisper the **Toton no Jutsu **spread over his body making him totally transparent. The jutsu finished just in time as two figures entered the clearing.

Naruto bit back a growl. Uchiha Sasuke was standing a mere twenty feet away with another man. The man was dressed in blood red armor similar to Hashirama. He had long spiky hair that traveled to his middle back and a pair or katana strapped in an X formation rested on his back. He didn't recognize the man from where he was sitting, but something about the aura he gave off set Naruto on edge. He leaned forward to hear what they were saying.

"Everything is going according to plan," the unknown Uchiha stated. His voice was rather soft, opposite of Hashirama who had the kind of voice you didn't want to hear in a dark alley.

Sasuke took a couple steps forward and gestured with his hand. "Yes, soon we will have a home where our people will never have to fear for their existence." Naruto's eyes hardened at the proclamation. The Uchiha were up to something and Sasuke was obviously behind it.

"You know, Sasuke," the man said, "I didn't believe you at first, hell I still don't believe most of what you told me, but my instincts have never done me any wrong. It would seem they have put me on the correct path once again."

Sasuke nodded. "You made the right decision, Madara-sama. Remember what I told you; if you followed the other path it would have only lead to the destruction of the Uchiha."

"Ahh, yes, I was a little skeptical of your story. Time travel! I thought about killing you when you said such nonsense, but I'm glad I didn't. You have proven to be a useful partner."

Naruto saw Sasuke's body tense for a second before he answered. "My only goal in life is to serve and ensure the safety of our clan. Now, why don't we see about our intruder?" Sasuke turned to Naruto and glared hatefully at his position. The glowing red orbs of the Sharingan easily spotted the chakra signal his jutsu was giving off. Naruto dropped the jutsu and dropped to the ground in front of the two Uchiha.

"How long did you know I was there?" Naruto asked.

"As soon as I said Madara's name I felt your chakra spike, you always sucked at keeping your chakra under control" Sasuke said with slight smirk.

"Hmm, friend of yours?" Madara asked tilting his head to the side as he surveyed the blond.

"You could say that," Sasuke replied.

Naruto glared at the two men. Their laid back attitude was really grating his nerves and he has had a long week. "What are you doing here, Sasuke!"

Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I guess you heard most of our conversation. Isn't it obvious? The Uchiha are founding their own village."

"What," Naruto choked out in shock.

"This was my goal coming back to this time. I did a lot of thinking, Naruto, and I deduced that everything comes back history. It was the Senju that started the Uchiha's path to destruction. First it was the Nidaime and then the Sandaime! So, I came back to remedy that." Sasuke was getting that look in his eyes again. The same look he had when he activated the seal to send them back. That same insane glaze he carried when he attacked Konoha in the future.

"I told Madara-sama all about the future. He was reluctant to believe me at first, but I won him over. Of course, you coming along for the ride was unexpected. I fully anticipated the Kyuubi being sucked out to destroy you as it does to all Jinchuriki. I see that you truly are Konoha's Number One Surprising Ninja."

Naruto frowned at the revelations. "Why here? Why not Fire Country?"

"Our goal cannot be realized on the continent, there are too many clans to conquer and a full out war with the Senju is too risky," Sasuke answered. "Not only that, but we also know it's possible to do it here. In the original time line this is where Madara came after being expelled from Konoha and it's where he set in motion the plans to create Kirigakure no Sato. Only, this time around, Kiri will be an Uchiha run village."

"You're being awfully open about all of this," Naruto said warily.

"Perhaps," this time Madara finally said, "but you won't be alive for much longer."

Naruto felt a piercing stab in his upper torso. The Madara next to Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke. The real Madara stood behind Naruto with his sword shoved through his back and chest.

"I was expecting more for someone Sasuke has warned me about," Madara said quietly.

"Madara," Sasuke said softly, "step away before you are killed."

Madara opened his mouth to retort but cut himself off as he leapt away from his opponent. The Naruto clone erupted in a whirlwind of razor sharp wind. The ground around the clone was torn up into small chunks of dirt. Madara had retreated a few meters back watching the destruction of the clone subside. "Oho!" Madara exclaimed, "A wind user, and a skilled one at that! I don't think I've ever seen someone combine their element to a shadow clone before."

"Don't let your guard down, Madara-sama," Sasuke warned. He hadn't moved from his spot. "Naruto is a trickster of the highest order."

"I can see that," Madara said wryly as he surveyed the little bit of damage the Naruto clone had done.

The two Uchiha waited for Naruto to make his move. They didn't move a muscle, they just listened. They didn't have to wait long as the ground between the two Uchiha swelled upward. It slowly rose like a balloon slowly having air blown into it. Sasuke and Madara watched the growing mound as it got high enough to cast a shadow over the entire clearing.

The rising hill finally stopped growing. It just sat quietly not doing anything. Sasuke and Madara took that time to start backing away from it. The small mountain gave a violent lurch and then issued a croaking "RIBBIT." The top of the hill cracked and shattered like an erupting volcano. Hundreds of hand sized toads erupted out.

Madara's eyes followed the limitless toads. "Another summoner, eh? Well, I guess you were right about him, Sasuke," Madara called to him. Sasuke didn't reply, instead he watched the toads. None of them made any aggressive moves; they all just sat stationary croaking to each other.

And then with machine like precision all of the toads open their mouths at the same time. Sasuke's eyes widened as a wall of brown liquid flew came hurtling at him. He formed a series of hand seals and slammed his hand into the ground. A loud eruption of smoke appeared and he found himself protected by a giant snake whose body wrapped around him like a cocoon. The snake protecting him gave a loud screech of pain as the acidic toad liquid crashed into it. The snake gave one last shudder before disappearing back to the Snake home to heal.

A wave of heat washed over Sasuke. He threw a hand in front of his fact to block out the hellish heat. A giant stream of fire from Madara's mouth was leaving a path of roasted toads. Sasuke made a few hand seals and added his own fire to the destruction until all of the toads were dead.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected," Madara said lightly.

"At the moment Naruto isn't as important as our goal. We will deal with him and anything he brings along at a later date," Sasuke told Madara. Though, deep down, Sasuke was seething. He knew with every fiber of his being that Naruto would be a thorn in his side, and just like with all annoying thorns they need to be removed.

* * *

Some distance away from the toad bonfire a hand sized toad rose from a river. The toad opened its mouth; an arm appeared from the toads' mouth, and then a torso until all of Uzumaki Naruto was free of his carrier.

"Thanks, Gama-chan," Naruto said breathlessly. Naruto climbed to his knees and dry heaved until his body settled. The summoning he had just performed to escape had taken a monstrous amount of chakra. There had been no large samples of water for him to use a toad to travel. The only thing he could use was the mist that covers most of the island. That was why Naruto was desperately trying to regain himself. The amount of chakra he had to use to have the toad travel through the mist had been more than anything he'd ever had to do.

Naruto just let himself fall to the ground and rolled onto his back. "Son of a bitch, back to the lion's den."

* * *

**Review, let me know what you think. A big thanks goes out to A Demon's Desire forum for their support and making me laugh. You guys know who you are ;D**


	4. Chapter 4

A wise shinobi once said 'Run you son of a bitch!' Naruto winced as an explosion went off somewhere behind him. He could feel the heat wash over his back as he high tailed it away from stampede of Uchiha behind him. He fought the urge to look back at his pursuers. A ninja trainee was taught at a young age that if you look back while fleeing you'd lose a portion of your momentum.

The eternal fog like mist of the island only made things harder for his vision. Luckily that problem is a two way street since the Uchiha couldn't keep track of him. Kunai and other projectiles blindly flew by well off their mark.

Another explosive note went off not too far. The small bundle in Naruto's arms gave a piercing scream as the shock wave from the blast hit. He wanted to tell the kid to stop screaming, but the four year old wouldn't understand. Sometimes, he hated his selflessness. He never intended to follow through with his promise to save that woman's' child, but his conscious kept at him the entire time he hid while recovering his chakra. By the time he had recovered, after a week of replenishing his reserves, his conscious finally got the better of him and he went searching for the child.

Naruto had been recovering from using a Senjutsu Ninjutsu that required a large body of water. However, the only available water source around at the time was the dense mist that coated the island. With an enormous amount of will power and chakra molding he was able to gather the mist to use his jutsu. The entire event left his giant chakra pool nearly depleted. It was certainly a _huge_ wake up call to Naruto that he no longer had the Kyuubi to get him out of any jams, heal life-threatening injuries or replenish his chakra in a days rest.

While recovering he took the time to search for the ladies son. Finding him has been a bitch and a half. All he had to go on was a name and his memory of what she looked like. It must've been a stroke of luck that the kid was a spitting image of his mother.

The mist was so thick Naruto didn't fully know his whereabouts. All he could figure out was that he was running in a plane with no trees or any other kind of cover he could use. It was a miracle that none of the enemy weapons had hit . . . whoops spoke too soon. A kunai with an explosive tag tied to it landed so close to them that the violent concussion knocked Naruto off his feet throwing him through the air like a rag doll for ten meters before hitting the ground with a loud _thud_. The child flew from his grasp and landed not too far from him; he heard him scream out in pain as he bounced off the ground.

Naruto struggled back to his feet and quickly reoriented himself. He could vaguely make out the boy's outline through the murkiness that hung in the air. They were getting closer, their yells carried through the mist. Naruto pushed his way through the mist and found the child curled up on the ground crying loudly and clenching his ankle. Naruto made to pick him up when half a dozen kunai whizzed by with explosive tags dangling from the handle. His eyes widened in horror as they kunai landed close to the toddler. His feet went on autopilot as he rushed to grab the boy from a certain death . . . too late. The tags went off and the area was consumed in a storm of hell fire. Naruto threw his hands up in front of his face to block the oppressive heat that washed over him and could only watch in pure terror as the explosion devoured the boy.

He could do nothing but stand there slack jawed as the infant ran around recklessly with his body ablaze with fire. His screams echoed out into the plane, each shriek sending a jolt of fury into Naruto's gut. The boy finally collapsed to the ground. The fire still danced about him burning his skin to a crisp black. He was dead; Naruto didn't even have to check.

The fury building within him was building to its breaking point. Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his teeth as he reigned in his temper. He turned slowly toward the incoming Uchiha. There was about fifteen Uchiha in metal armor. Each of them had their Sharingan blazing as they glared at the blond ninja standing before them.

One of them stepped forward, most likely the leader. "You, criminal, are under arrest in the name of the Uchiha clan," the Uchiha announced.

Naruto looked calmly into the man's red eyes his earlier rage successfully suppressed. "No," Naruto replied softly, "you're the criminals, and criminals must be dealt with." The Uchiha clansmen looked at each other for a second before erupting into small mocking chuckles.

Naruto sprung into action before the Uchiha could react. His hands slapped together and his eyes closed. The world around him became visible in his mind's eye. All around him invisible waves of chakra gathered to him. The observing Uchiha, having never seen Senjutsu before, did not realize the danger of letting the blond ninja stand still for so long. They only realized the potential danger when their target started to change. Red rings bled through the skin around his reminding the Uchiha of the tribal tattoos the Inuzuka clan used.

The Uchiha moved forward all at once to stop whatever their enemy was doing. They halted in their tracks when the blond haired ninja's eyes snapped open revealing the most disturbing eyes they've ever seen. His pupils had become horizontal rectangles and his eye balls looked too small for his eye sockets. The Uchiha didn't know what was about to hit them.

__--__--__--__

"Uzumaki Naruto, eh?" Madara mused aloud. "He's quite the guy. He must be if he makes _you_ wary to battle." The Uchiha leader sat cross legged at the edge of the crater Naruto's summoning jutsu had caused. His chin rested in his hand while his eyes stared lazily at the other Uchiha inspecting the crater.

Sasuke looked up at Madara from within the small crater. "I don't fear him, if that's what you are hinting," he said. He climbed out of the hole and took a spot right next to Madara on the ground. "But, I recognize the threat he represents. I hadn't planned on him coming back to this time period with me. The fact that he is here changes everything."

"Oh? How so?" Madara questioned. "One man can change our plans so easily?"

Sasuke gave a slight incline of his head not taking his eyes off the crater. "I know Naruto more than anyone else. His loyalty to his village is even greater than your loyalty to the clan. I have no doubt that as we speak he is heading back to Hi no Kuni. It looks like that despite the changes we've made, Konoha will rise."

"Konoha . . . oh right, the village Hashirama-dono and I supposedly created in the future." Senju Hashirama was the only person alive that Madara respected enough to add such an honorific.

"Correct," Sasuke said, "I have no doubt that Naruto is on his way to Fire country. It's the only place he considered home."

"What makes you think this Konoha will rise because of him?" Madara asked. A length of black hair had fallen across his vision which he blew out of the way.

". . . I just know. Naruto loved his village. Now that he knows of our plans he will go to the Senju and warn them. If Naruto is capable of anything it's convincing anyone to see his view point."

Madara tilted his head to the side and gave Sasuke a confused look. "Shouldn't we stop him from going to the Senju?"

"You are the clan leader, it's up to you." Sasuke gave a small shrug. "But, I don't suggest it. Doing so will only end up with the unnecessary deaths of clan members."

Madara waved the idea off. "He's long gone by now. Besides, we have to start part two of our plan."

"The summoning contracts," Sasuke whispered, "you still haven't explained why you want to collect them."

"It's for protection," Madara answered.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in confusion. "The clan is more than capable of holding off against any attack. I don't see the need for them."

"Yes, we can hold off a conventional attack, but it's the Senju clan that worries me," Madara explained, "Hashirama-dono in particular. I'm not planning on collecting them all. Only the large summons."

"One man worries you?" Sasuke arched an eyebrow at Madara. He had never known the clan leader to actually be uneasy about any one man. Sure, he knew of Madara's respect for the Senju leader, but from the way Madara said it he could've sworn he heard a hint of apprehension.

"You truly don't understand the scope of that man's power," Madara exclaimed in surprise, "his Mokuton abilities are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to him. The reason we need the larger summons is to protect us against his even greater power; Biju control and suppression.

"Not many know it, but Hashirama-dono controls all of the biju except the Kyuubi. I have no doubt that that man will use them to destroy us if he feels he needs to. With the large summoned animals we will at least have something to combat the biju. In short, it's to level the playing field."

Sasuke wasn't that surprised. He had heard stories as a child of the Shodai Hokage being so powerful he could control the biju; but just like most people from his time period he thought it was just an old wives tale. "How do you plan to go about collecting them?"

"That . . . will be tough," Madara said slowly, "the locations of the animal clans are very difficult to locate, but we must start on tracking them down. The known large summons are toads, snakes, salamanders, slugs and crustaceans. We already know that toads are unattainable and you have snakes. So, that leaves us with salamanders, slugs and crustaceans."

"I see," Sasuke said. The idea was a sound one. He doubted even the combined power of every single Sharingan could stop and onslaught by the biju if Hashirama let them loose. "I think that we should also start the next part of the plan."

"Aye," Madara sighed, "that will undoubtedly be even tougher than finding the summons. Our clan isn't exactly well liked by the other clans. We will have to convince them. We are going to need allies to survive."

"Yes, and we should capitalize on the head start we have. With your permission I will start assembling the envoys to the clans we have decided on," Sasuke said.

Madara turned his dark eyes to Sasuke. "Do it."

__--__--__--__--__

The bright sun of Hi no Kuni was a welcomed change to Naruto. The oppressive feeling of the mist covered island felt so alien to him.

He shot through the dense tree cover of the land. His destination was obvious; to get to the Senju clan and tell them of his recent intel. Part of him questioned his present mission. Maybe the Uchiha would just stay to themselves . . . no, not possible. Once word of the idea for a Hidden Village spread there are bound to be dozens popping up and Naruto refused to allow a future without Konohagakure no Sato in it.

Naruto slowed his speed as he drew closer to the future Hokage monument. Unlike last time he was completely aware of his surroundings. He wasn't about to get knocked out by the same trick two times in a row.

He settled on a branch to take a quick breather. He looked up at the plain mountain. It looked so ordinary. Seeing it without the face carvings didn't feel right. Naruto sighed as he felt a presence appear not to far behind him. He turned toward the area he felt his follower.

"You can come out now!" He screamed. "I know you're there!"

Three figures appeared in a tree across from Naruto. Each of them was wearing dark green armor with the Senju double trident etched on the shoulder plate.

"You are intruding on the land of the Se-," Naruto cut the man off. "Yada yada yada, I know. I need to speak to that cold hearted bastard you call a clan leader."

The three shinobi shifted angrily at the disrespect toward their leader. The one who had spoken unsheathed a sword attached to his hip and leveled it at Naruto. "Come with us. Any sudden moves and I _will_ kill you."

Naruto shrugged and held his hands a little bit away from his hips to the Senju members could see them at all times. They surrounded him in a triangle formation, two men covering the back and one up front on point leading the way.

This time Naruto was awake for the travel. He hadn't realized how close he was to the clan residence within the forest the last time he had been there. Within minutes he could see huts on the ground level and tree houses up in the trees. Some people came out from their small hovels and waved as they passed by.

The Senju guard led Naruto to one of largest trees he had ever laid eyes on. The tree towered over the forest and was at least thirty people thick. He was shocked to see that lights were pouring from within the tree. _'Oh wow, the tree is hollow,' _Naruto mused.

The lead guard approached the giant tree and placed his hand on it. He said something under his breath. A section of the tree fell away like saw dust forming a doorway. One of the guards put a hand on his shoulder and guided him into the tree. The inside wasn't what he expected. It was a very homely; expensive looking rugs covered the floor, torches blazed calmly from the walls. It actually felt welcoming. This, of course, automatically put Naruto on edge.

Naruto and his guard marched down small hallway and stopped before two large wooden doors. One of the guards entered while Naruto and the other two waited. It wasn't long before the man exited. He glared at Naruto and gestured with his head toward the door. The three guards backed off Naruto and disappeared down the hallway. Naruto checked left and right to see if anyone was around. There was no one around so he entered the room.

Senju Hashirama sat cross legged on the ground; next to him also sat his brother, Senju Tobirama. They were both staring at Naruto as he entered the room. Tobirama's wore a slight frown on his face, while Hashirama had a look of what could only be explained as satisfaction; as if he had been proven right.

"Naruto," Hashirama said with a smile, "come in come in! That is your name, right?"

He kneeled on the ground in front of the two clan leaders. He could feel their gazes on him, studying him. "Yeah, that's my name."

"Ah, good," Hashirama said clapping his hands together, "at least Kato and Ishikawa's injuries weren't totally pointless. They send their love, by the way."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Oh, they're the two interrogators you embarrassed about a month ago. They're _dying _to meet you again," Hashirama said wryly.

Naruto didn't know how to respond. He expected to be attacked or at least told off for his escape and the damage he caused. Last time he was there he had covered the entire place in toad goop and flattened quite a few trees with his toad.

Tobirama cut him from his musings. "You obviously aren't here for a social call. What brings you back to our neck of the woods?"

Naruto mulled over how he was going to put what he wanted to say. "I have some important information you may find troubling."

The two brothers looked at each other. Hashirama shrugged and decided he would humor the blond and gestured for him to continue.

"It's news concerning the Uchiha clan." Now _that_ got their attention. Both brothers sat rigid and a look of hate passed over their faces.

"Uchiha, eh?" Hashirama said more to himself than to anyone else in the room. He sighed and clapped his hands loudly. A door Naruto hadn't realized was there opened behind the brothers and a teenage girl walked out carrying a tray of tea. Naruto found himself having trouble looking away. She was wearing a maid's outfit that was so tight her ample breasts were threatening to spill over the top. He had to fight his libido quite viciously so to not embarrass himself.

Hashirama must've noticed his staring because his laugh broke Naruto from his gawking. "You like what you see Naruto?" He asked. "You can have her if you want. It will be payment for the information you're giving us."

'_I can have her?' _Naruto thought incredulously. That wasn't something he heard every day; someone just giving away another person. Naruto looked at her again and this time he looked past her distracting body. His eyes immediately found her neck and the contraption around it. A wooden band wrapped around her neck like a dog collar. He could see what looked like thorns on the band that dug into her flex causing small nicks and scratches. Her eyes had a dull look to them, as if she had given up on life.

"Is she a slave?" Naruto asked with restrained hostility.

Hashirama sipped some of his tea before he answered. "We razed her village a few years ago. They hadn't paid their taxes so we took our payment with their blood. Isn't that right, Reika?"

"Yes, Hashirama-sama," the slave girl whispered as she poured Naruto his tea.

"I'm sure she will prove most satisfactory to your needs Naruto," Hashirama said with a laugh, "I know she has for me."

Naruto pushed down the revulsion he felt. He had heard so many stories; so many stories about the great Shodai Hokage and his brother. None of them ever spoke of the cruelty and inhumane side he was witnessing. He, like most of Konoha, believed that the founders were good, peaceful and loving. If anything, the Senju Hashirama seemed to be the opposite of those.

Tobirama set his tea down. "Enough with the pleasantries. If you have intel then tell us what it is."

Naruto brushed his earlier thoughts away and got down to the reason he was back in the lion's den. "I was following a couple of leads," he began, "leads pertaining to the Uchiha clan. I know you will be happy to hear that the Uchiha clan is no longer in Fire Country."

"What do you _mean_ they're no longer in Fire country," Tobirama questioned skeptically.

"As in poof, gone, picked up and left."

"That doesn't make any sense at all," Tobirama said, "the Uchiha paid for that land with the blood of their ancestors. They wouldn't just up and leave like that."

"I know it's unbelievable, but believe me when I tell you the Uchiha have left this country," Naruto said hoping he was convincing them.

"And where have they gone?" Hashirama chimed in.

Naruto sighed tiredly. "Unfortunately this bit of news won't make you happy to hear," he said, "the Uchiha have gone to Mizu no Kuni."

Tobirama and Hashirama shared a confused look and looked back at Naruto. They didn't say anything so Naruto continued. "Anyway, long story short, I snuck aboard an Uchiha slave vessel and learned that the Uchiha plan to create their own village."

Naruto stopped talking to let that sink in. The two brothers didn't look very convinced. In fact, they looked like they were about to end the meeting which would probably end with Naruto being arrested or killed.

"A village?" Hashirama said, "How is that anymore of a threat to us than they already were?"

It hit Naruto that the brothers don't realize just what a Hidden Village is. Looks like they needed to be educated. "Because," Naruto said pausing for a second, "this isn't just the Uchiha we are talking about. They are creating what they call a Hidden Village. They are putting up walls and are going to start trying to convince the other clans to join them. Soon, it will be the Uchiha along with a half dozen other clans and ninja united as a single force."

The brothers shifted uneasily at the thought. The Senju clan was capable of holding off the Uchiha clan, but they were certainly not capable of holding off the Uchiha plus allies.

"Suppose I believe you," Hashirama said cautiously, "what do you want us to do? Why come to us with this?"

"Because the Senju clan is the only clan capable of standing up to the Uchiha clan. If you are going to ensure the survival of your clan we need to start building a village of our own," Naruto offered his proposal.

Tobirama leaned over to his brother and whispered something. They went on like that for a few seconds before turning back to Naruto.

Tobirama stood up and clasped his hands behind his back. "The information you've brought us is . . . troubling to say the least," Tobirama said, "of course, you will forgive us if we don't believe you."

Naruto felt a stone drop in his stomach. He had hoped that they would see reason, that there was a serious threat growing in the world. He opened his mouth to respond when Hashirama also stood up.

"You will stay in this very tower until we can confirm your report," Hashirama declared with a tone of authority. His voice softened a little as he added, "For the record, I believe you, but as a leader I must take any information with caution."

Naruto nodded, a sense of relief flooded through him. Now, hopefully, he could get things rolling as they should've been. Naruto stood and stretched his legs out.

"Oh, before I forget," Hashirama said, "here is your equipment back." He tossed a black zipped bag across the room which Naruto snatched out of the air.

"Thanks," Naruto said appreciatively. He had missed the bag. He hadn't realized how much trouble life would be without a normal kunai or some wire.

"Don't forget this," the clan leader said as he pulled out a tri-pronged kunai. "I have never seen anything the seal on this before. It's truly a work of art." He tossed the kunai to Naruto who snatched it out of the air.

"It's a family heir loom. My father was a seal master," Naruto said with a hint of pride.

"I can see that," the leader said with a chuckle. "We could use a man like that."

"Not going to be much help, he died years ago," Naruto said _'Or is that years from now?' _

"Pity," Hashirama said, "Anyway, a guard will escort you to your temporary living quarters. Remember, you are not to leave this tree tower until we have confirmed your story.

"Yes sir," Naruto acknowledged.

He turned to leave when Hashirama called out one more time. "Naruto, I don't think we ever got your last name . . ." he left the question hanging for Naruto to answer.

He smiled at the two brothers. "Naruto, just call me Naruto."

**So, erm, that's chapter 4. Didn't really like how it came out. It was annoying to write. Some of it seems muddled to me, but I wanted to get this out there for you guys.**

**Big thanks to the guys at A Demon's Desire (ADD) for being cool and providing great discussion. **

**I also have a challenge up in my profile for anyone interested.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the wait. I get hit with these plot bunnies and feel the need to write out the first chapters to them and that distracts me from this. Anyway, here's the new chapter. I'll be posting this one shot I wrote the other day. If you want to read it now you can visit the link in my profile and go to the Work by Author section.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Naruto turned over onto his side. He grunted as he pulled the covers tighter. The past week had been uneventful to say the least. He'd been confined to his room while Hashirama worked on finding out if Naruto's report was true or not. Even though Naruto knew the report was correct he still felt uneasy about it.

'_What if they don't find them?' _He had questioned himself.

'_What if Sasuke knew he would go back to the Senju and convinced Madara to relocate?'_

That was how his first three days went. He kicked himself mentally to stop second guessing himself. Going over the 'what ifs' never helped anybody and it wouldn't help him. He would just have to trust in Hashirama and his subordinates not to screw it up. The last four days had been spent laying about going stir crazy. His only contact with the outside world was with the servants, and they didn't provide much conversation.

Everything had gotten so messed up. He was familiar with time space Ninjutsu to some extent, but whatever Sasuke did to send them back to this time era sure beat the hell out of any knowledge he had about time space. At first he hadn't thought much of the consequences of time travel, but then his mind started bringing up possibilities again.

He didn't know what would happen because of this time traveling escapade. History already had changed with the Uchiha going to Mizu no Kuni. That wasn't what really bothered him though. What really got at him was the thought that certain people he knew in the future wouldn't be born, or people who weren't supposed to have died will die. The thought of a Konoha without old man Sandaime really made him feel queasy.

Of course his mind decided to throw another screw ball at him. Was this meant to happen? Maybe the Uchiha going to Mizu actually happened, but it failed and they came back to help build Konoha? There was so many possibilities and it drove him crazy thinking about them. It was like trying to figure out why you exist as you and not as someone else.

Most of his days were spent going over what he needed to do. They obviously needed to start the creation of Konoha and gathering allies if they planned to survive against the power of a hidden village. He had no doubt that the Uchiha were already in motion trying to recruit whomever they could to their idea.

Naruto rolled over again and bumped into something. He slowly turned his head and stared straight into the hard glare of Senju Hashirama. Naruto bit back a scream of surprise. _'I didn't even feel the son of a bitch creep up on me!'_

"H-Hashirama-sama," Naruto greeted weakly. The glare still held and Hashirama didn't say anything. Naruto felt a cold sweat break out on his neck and back. _'He looks pissed,'_ Naruto thought fearfully. He _really_ didn't want to fight his way out again.

Hashirama snapped his fingers and before Naruto could react he was bound to the ground by wooden shackles that had formed out of the wooden floor. He leaned down so that his face was hovering over Naruto's.

"You wouldn't lie to me; would you, Naruto?" Hashirama whispered. Naruto could smell the alcohol on his breath. He'd obviously been drinking a lot throughout the day and most of the night. _'Great, he's probably an abusive drunk,'_ Naruto groaned inwardly.

"Of course not," he answered. He struggled slightly against his holdings and found no slack to work out of. He was stuck at the drunken man's mercy. A sudden thought hit him that sent his stomach on a roller coaster ride. What if they had messed up and didn't find the Uchiha? Was Hashirama here to kill him?

Hashirama slammed a hand hard against the ground. "Don't lie to me!" He bellowed. The Senju pulled back front Naruto and stood up standing over him. "I don't like liars, Naruto." Hashirama said sternly. "Don't ever let me find out you lied to me." With a snap of his fingers the bonds released and Naruto was free.

Naruto rolled to his feet and prepared to defend himself, but stopped when he heard laughter from the doorway. He looked over Hashirama's shoulder. Senju Tobirama was standing in the doorway with a small grin on his face and holding what looked like a clay jug.

"Doing the old 'don't lie to me' gig, eh?" The silver haired ninja said as he walked into the room.

"Sheesh, just ruining all my fun," Hashirama threw a playful glare at his brother. He turned back to Naruto and gave a wide smile. "I was just joking with you."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. _'Fucking odd ball,'_ he thought while holding back a glare. He could see why many considered Hashirama to be one of the most powerful ninja to ever live. He scared the ever loving shit out of him with that little joke. "Oh . . . it's . . . um . . . alright I guess. A little fun never hurt anybody," Naruto said lightly.

Hashirama gave a bark of laughter and clapped his hands together. "That's the spirit!" Hashirama exclaimed while pointing at Naruto and looking at his brother. "Someone who knows how to take a joke like a man!"

Naruto decided not to point out the difference between a joke and what Hashirama did, but held his tongue. "So . . . um, any reason I've been woken up in the dead of night?"

"What? Oh, yes," Hashirama said as if suddenly remember the reason he came to his room. "We got back from checking out your information."

Naruto perked up focused on the inebriated man. "Yes?" He prompted.

Tobirama offered him the clay jug he was holding which was filled with some kind of alcoholic beverage. "Congratulations!" He laughed. "It looks like you get to keep your life."

Naruto gave an uneasy grin and took a gulp of the drink. It felt like icy fire spreading down his chest. He heaved and hacked has the alcohol traveled to his stomach. The two brothers laughed as the red faced Naruto tried to regain some of his dignity.

"That's clean your insides out!" Hashirama exclaimed loudly.

Tobirama took the jug back from Naruto and downed the rest of it. "Tonight we celebrate. Tomorrow we start planning."

Naruto gave a confused look at the silver haired shinobi. "What are we celebrating, Tobirama-sama?"

The happy grins on their faces dropped as if they hadn't just been laughing at all. Tobirama stared into the empty jug and discarded it. "The Uchiha are going to be gaining a lot of power with this village system they're trying to pull off. We'll have to do the same if we want to keep our power."

Hashirama held up a hand to stop any further discussion. "This is a conversation for tomorrow. Tonight we get drunk and celebrate the founding of our village." Hashirama reached under his armor and pulled out a moleskin pouch filled with more alcohol. He offered it to Naruto with a smile. "Drink up, partner."

* * *

Senju Kugi wasn't happy. When she took her oath to protect the clan from all enemies she dedicated herself to the perfection of everything she did. _'Instead they treat me like a child!' _She raged. _'Me! A child! I'll show them!'_

At seventeen she stood at five and half feet, had the silver hair and facial markings of her father and would be considered to be pretty by most if she weren't always scowling. Kugi walked down the hallway like a hurricane. People moved out of her way because they knew she wouldn't.

She came upon the door and glared at it. This was her current mission. She was ordered to escort the guest to the meeting; nothing more. _'I'm more than this. I shouldn't be a chauffeur for some outsider.'_ Kugi knew the outsider was more than that. She was there when he incapacitated most of the clan with his summoned animal, and that Hashirama had taken an interest in him.

Kugi didn't knock. She pushed the door open and barged into the room. She stopped in her tracks and stared at the blond haired guest. She felt a hot blush creep up her face as she stared at his naked body. He had a towel over his head and was drying his hair leaving his entire lower body exposed.

Before she could back out of the room and pretend it ever happened the blond took the towel off his head and saw her. He stared at her for a second before realizing he was naked. He gave a yelp of surprise and made a dash back to the bathroom.

Kugi quickly exited the room. She could feel her face and ears burning. She kicked herself for not knocking. Her dad always told needed to knock more and that she may see something she wasn't supposed to if she didn't.

There was a rustling sound beyond the door. She quickly composed herself right as the door opened. When she saw him again she felt her blush creeping back up again. She'd never been good with men. Plenty had tried to court her, but in the end she rejected them all. This was the first time she'd ever seen the male organ. She had to admit, deep down she felt a little thrilled at the experience.

She pushed her way passed the blond into his room. She threw a glare at him as he tried to greet her. "I am to escort you to the meeting," she informed him. "Get yourself ready; they are waiting."

Her eyes narrowed at the blond as he hustled around him room gathering whatever supplies he needed. _'Gotta admit. He's rather cute.' _

* * *

Naruto slammed the bathroom door shut. He took a deep breath to control his breathing. The last thing he expected was for a girl to barge into his room while he was butt ass naked. He wasn't as embarrassed as the girl. He had some experience with members of the opposite sex, so he didn't feel that uncomfortable being naked in front of one.

It just caught him by surprise. The girl was a complete stranger and that made him uncomfortable. He heard the door to his room open and close. He cracked the bathroom door opened and peeked into the empty room. She wasn't in the room anymore. Naruto quickly grabbed his orange and black outfit and threw it on before heading over to the door to let the girl back in.

She still had a blush on her cheeks. He could tell she was trying to act all business and like the previous incident never happened. She once again pushed her way into the room. He only half listened as she told him he was to escorted to a meeting. _'Gotta admit. She's rather cute.' _He fought the lecherous grin that he learned from Jiraiya. _'If only she stopped scowling like that.' _

"Hey!" Her voice snapped at him. "Are you listening to me?"

"Oh – uh – sorry, let me grab my stuff," he said trying to cover up his lapse in attention.

* * *

By the time they made it to the meeting Naruto and Kugi weren't on speaking terms. He'd tried to talk to her, but she snapped at him to keep his mouth shut. Naruto's eyes narrowed at the back of the silver haired kunoichi. _'What'd I ever do to her?'_

He never realized just how large the hollowed out tree that the Senju used as its headquarters was. They had been walking for a about ten minutes through a maze of corridors with no end in sight. The hallways were eerily quiet. It spooked him. Usually, quietness in an active place meant something was happening.

They soon found themselves in front of two large doors. The doors were decorated with elaborate carvings of great ninja battles and planets and seals. There were so many carvings he couldn't see them all. He noticed that circling everything in a ring were eight animals, each with a certain number of tails. A looked at the biju carvings in surprise. He had forgotten about the Shodai's abilites with taming the biju. For some reason the Kyuubi was absent from the carvings. He didn't have any more time to think it over as Kugi bumped his shoulder roughly.

"Listen closely," she warned. "This is a meeting between some very important people. You don't speak unless you are spoken to, and when you do speak do not insult anyone in this room."

Naruto nodded in understanding. He felt butterflies in his stomach at what waited on the other side of the door. Kugi pushed the door open and they both walked in. It was a large spacious room. Fire torches lined the walls; which he found to be odd seeing as how they were surrounded by wood. Naruto did a quick count and counted twenty-one people in the room not counting himself and Kugi.

The people were divided to opposite sides of the room. The men were seated on their knees; they occupied two sides of the room leaving the center of the room empty except for a single man dressed in the most expensive looking clothing. The man wore a large black ceremonial hat and sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Naruto instantly knew the man was the Daimyo of Fire Country. The man looked up at Naruto and Kugi as they entered the room. "Is this the boy?" Someone asked.

One of the men on the left side of the room stood up. It took him a second to realize it was Hashirama. He wasn't in his usual red armor; instead he was wearing silk robes. Naruto noticed that the men on the left side of the room had the Senju double trident embroidered on their clothing. The men on the right side of the room all had the markings of nobility. _'The Daimyo and his advisors.'_

"Naruto," Hashirama called to him. "Sit by me." There was an empty pad next to Hashirama and his brother. There were a few exclamations of surprise from the Senju men. No one but the Daimyo and Tobirama ever sat next to Hashirama.

Naruto felt the pressure of their eyes on him. He looked down at his own tattered clothing and then at the rich silk clothing of the others. It made him feel like a hobo. He heard a quiet snort behind him. He looked at Kugi who was eyeing his clothing with obvious amusement. He glared at her and started to cross the center of the room.

A vice like grip clamped down on his shoulder causing him to wince in pain. He spun around and looked at the offending person. Kugi gave him an irritated look. "You never walk across the Daimyo's path," she whispered.

He didn't respond as she guided him around the sitting Senju men to his spot next to Hashirama. The Senju leader looked at his clothing with a hint of disapproval. He gave him a look that told him they would speak later.

One of the Daimyo's advisors stood up. He was an old man with thinning white hair that was covered by his ceremonial hat. He was a heavy set man and had an pompous aura about him. "We are here today at the behest of Hashirama-san. We thank you for your honorable treatment." He gave a polite nod at the leader.

"What I, and I'm sure a lot of us here would like to know is why," the advisor said. "It's not every day that the Daimyo's presence is _requested_," he said throwing a hard look at Hashirama. Naruto could hear the emphasis on requested. He suppressed a snort. Knowing Hashirama he probably demanded the meeting. "Please enlighten us on what is so urgent."

Hashirama stood up and took the floor. He bowed to the Daimyo and his advisors. "My lords and fellow clansmen," he said in a grim voice. "I have some news and a proposal for your consideration. Not too long ago my friend to my left uncovered some disturbing findings."

Naruto could see political posturing when he saw it. Hashirama was doing his best to make the speech grab their attention. He saw Tsunade and Kakashi do it many times. He watched at Hashirama told the room about the Uchiha's plans for a village. The reaction they showed wasn't what they expect. The advisors and the Daimyo just shrugged the news off.

"What does this matter to us?" One advisor said.

"Who cares. I'm sure you can fight them off as usual." Another said with a laugh.

The Daimyo didn't say anything. He looked at the hard face of Hashirama and nodded in understanding. With a clap of his hands the room fell quiet. "Let Hashirama-dono finish," he said quietly.

Hashirama gave the Daimyo a grateful nod and continued. "This isn't just the Uchiha," he said. "Our latest reports have confirmed that they have already gotten two clans in Mizu no Kuni to join them." He paused to let the information sink in. Some of the nobles looked unsettled, while some still looked indifferent.

"The world is changing!" His voice cracked like a whip. "The days of alliance wars is coming to an end. Soon this land will be fighting wars with giant armies from these Hidden Villages. We cannot sustain if we are a fractured country! We must create our own village to protect our land!"

His speech was getting through to most of them now. All he needed was to drive the point home. "We have reports that the Daimyo from Tsuchi no Kuni has granted the clans in their country permission to begin creation of their own village.

This was news to Naruto. _'Shit, things are really spiraling out of control. Konoha was supposed to be the first hidden village with the others following after!'_ He looked worriedly at the thoughtful looking Daimyo. _'What if he rejects the idea?'_ Naruto swallowed the reason he agreed to it in the original timeline was because it was Madara and Hashirama together making the proposal. He would just have to hope that Hashirama can pull it off.

The noble that first spoke stood up once Hashirama sat down. "Let's say we agree to this proposal what would this village of . . ." he trailed off unsure of what to call it other than village.

"Konohagakure no Sato." The words left Naruto mouth before he could stop himself. He berated himself for speaking out of turn.

"Village Hidden in the Leaves," the advisor mumbled to himself as he tested the name out. He looked back at Naruto and gestured to him. "Who is this man? He sits next to you like an equal!"

The clan leader cleared his throat and put a hand on Naruto shoulder. "He would be the co-founder of Konohagakure no Sato," Hashirama announced with mischievous grin. "That is, if you agree with the plan."

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at the black haired shinobi. That was the last thing he expected. He could believe just how screwed up everything became. He'd basically taken Uchiha Madara's spot in the creation of Konoha.

"Very well," the noble said. "As I was saying; how would the Konoha function? What would its power be?"

Hashirama stood back up when the noble sat down. "I am going to turn the floor over to Naruto for this question."

Naruto gave a panicked looked at Hashirama. He wasn't prepared for something like this. Hashirama saw the look in Naruto eyes and knelt next to him and whispered as quickly as he could. "They need to see you. You are co-founder; they won't accept just my word on this. We need to be a united and confident front."

Naruto cursed the man. He could have at least given him time to prepare a something to say. Instead he just dumps this meeting in his lap at the last second. He stood up and looked at the awaiting nobles and Senju clansmen.

He looked back at Hashirama who was grinning playfully at him. _'Oh, that son of a bitch,' _Naruto thought as it occurred to him why he was doing this. Hashirama was testing him. He wanted to see if Naruto was worthy of being co-founder of the village. He didn't know what would happen if he failed. He certainly didn't want to find out.

"My lords and fellow shinobi," he said shakily. He cleared his throat to cover up his nervousness and continued. "As Hashirama-_dono_ said," he said looking at the clan leader. Hashirama's grin widened and his eyes twinkled as he watched Naruto. "The world is changing and we need to change with it."

He racked his brain for what to say. The best he could do was try to remember what the original village had. "You asked what the role of a hidden village would be," he said looking at the advisor. "As we envisioned it; the hidden village would represent the countries military power. The village would be governed by what is called a Kage, in our case the Hokage. The Hokage would rule over hundreds and thousands of shinobi."

"The village would also hire its services to anyone that needs something done and can pay for it," he said.

The lead noble stood up despite the fact that Naruto still had the floor. It was a sign of disrespect and it wasn't lost on Naruto that he had a lot to do before he had the respect of these people. "How much power would this . . ._ Kage_ have?"

Naruto paused for a second and looked back at Hashirama. The clan leader was looking at Naruto. Hashirama didn't know the answer to this and he hoped Naruto could give a satisfactory answer.

"The Hokage and the hidden village," he began. "They must have complete sovereignty."

"Preposterous," the noble said indignantly. There was a few more exclamation of anger from the other nobles. "The Daimyo is the only sovereign power in the land."

Hashirama started to get up to stop Naruto from continuing, but Naruto threw him a look and he sat back down. "I understand that, but there needs to be compromise here. The Hokage and the Daimyo would be equals, but the Daimyo would have overall power over the country . . . except for Konoha."

"When the land is threatened the Daimyo would be able to call on the Hokage to assist in protecting it," Naruto reasoned with them. "You can turn us down, but remember, the world won't take pity on you. Soon, other villages will start popping up and they will get greedy and move into Fire Country for more land. It will be then that you will remember this meeting. Think hard on this!"

Naruto turned his back on the still standing advisor showing him the same disrespect. He had never felt more drained in his life. Politics was not his thing.

The advisor opened his mouth to reply when the Daimyo raised a hand. The counselor sat down as the Daimyo stood up.

"My friends," he said in a soft voice. "I have contemplated your plan and I agree with you reasoning. Konohagakure no Sato will be given a lease on which to build their village. The Hokage will have equal power over its village as I would over the country. In return they will act as my military arm and pay taxes for the land. The Daimyo will have the power to appoint a Hokage, but also has to be voted in by his ninja. As my first act, I nominate Hashirama-dono to be the Shodai Hokage."

The news was like a tidal wave of relief. Naruto felt elated that Konoha would go on to exist in this timeline. He looked over at Hashirama who was taking the nomination in stride as he accepted it. He knew the wood user would be voted in by his people.

The Daimyo and his people exited the room followed by the Senju clan elders. The only people left in the room were Hashirama, Tobirama, his escort Kugi and himself.

Hashirama stretched his arms back and sighed as his joints cracked. "You did well, Naruto," he said. "For a second I thought you were losing control of the room, but you pulled through."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed. "It's a gift."

Tobirama, always the level headed one, moved the conversation along. "We have a lot to work on," he said. "We have to start sending emissaries to the other clans. We must convince them to join us."

"The Nara and the Hyuuga are a must," Hashirama said aloud to himself. "The Hyuuga will be easy. They'd rather die than join the Uchiha. The Nara have a ton of land and have a habit of producing high caliber ninja."

Hashirama went quiet for a second as he went over the plan. "I'll go to the Nara. They bring a lot more to the table so I'll handle them. Tobi, you'll go and talk to the Inuzuka. Their influence will hopefully get their allies – the Aburame– to join. Naruto, you'll go to the Hyuuga. I'm hoping their hatred for the Uchiha will overshadow their pride."

"What about me!" Kugi asked excitedly.

Hashirama looked at the silver haired girl and thought for a second. "You'll go with Naruto and guide him to the Hyuuga. He might need a familiar face to get an audience."

Kugi stared at the black haired man for a second before turning red with anger. "I can do more than that! Don't you need someone to go talk to the Yamanaka or something?"

"Kugi!" Tobirama snapped. "Do as your uncle says!"

Kugi looked down at the ground in anger. "Yes father," she grounded out through clenched teeth. Sometimes she hated them. They treated her like a child. Her father was the worst. Ever since her mother died he refused to send her on any dangerous mission, and her uncle wasn't any better. During the last conflict with the Uchiha she was forced to stay at the back of the lines to tend the wounded. She knew she was just as strong as any other clan member, and she knew her uncle and father knew it. That still didn't stop them from being over protective.

"Good," Hashirama exclaimed loudly. "We set out tomorrow for our destinations."

Naruto turned to leave when Hashirama called out. "Hey Naruto, why didn't you wear the clothing I sent with Kugi?"

"Uh . . ." Naruto looked at the seething girl. She averted her eyes when he looked at her. "Sorry about that. They didn't fit."

Hashirama rubbed his nose. "Huh, looks like the servants messed up," he said while giving Kugi a stern look. He figured that she forgot the clothing intentionally as revenge for them making her do menial work a servant could do. He didn't call her on it though. If Naruto wanted to spare the girl embarrassment he would to.

The two brothers left the room leaving Naruto and Kugi alone. "You didn't have to do that," Kugi mumbled.

Naruto laughed. "If I'm going to be traveling with you for a couple days I'd rather not have to sleep with one eye open."

"Well . . . thanks anyway," she said before leaving Naruto standing alone.

'_Cute girl. A little childish, but cute.'_

**I hope Senju Kugi is characterized good enough. I'm avoiding Mary sue. She's nowhere near as powerful as Naruto, Hashirama or Tobirama. She'd make a good Jounin though.**

**The creation of the hidden villages is getting underway. There will be some big changes coming up. Stay tuned for them.**


End file.
